History

The C-17 was funded for development in 1984 and the first one was delivered in 1991 to the USAF for testing. The C-17 was originally designed to replace the C-130 and augment the C-5 and C-141. As we all know the C-130 and the C-5 are still going and the C-141 has been removed from service and has been sent to the boneyard for scrapping. The initial order was for 120 units and that was bumped up in 2002 following the attacks of September 11th to 180. Although the USAF is the main user there are many other countries that utilize the C-17.

The Kit

The kit is molded in light gray plastic. Several of the parts had a grainy texture to them and several of the sprue attachment points were thick and difficult to remove. The construction is fairly straight forward.

In case you missed the IPMS/USA Nationals this past summer, Eduard released a 1/48 scale F-14A Tomcat as part of a special Danger Zone boxing that included a slew of photoetch and resin detail parts along with the plane. I mention this as some of the detail items, such as this set, are now being released to further spruce up the limited edition release. I have never seen anything like this fabric set, so I would consider this a warning shot across the bow of other detail part manufacturers.

In case you missed the IPMS-USA Nationals this past summer, Eduard released a 1/48 scale F-14A Tomcat as part of a special “Danger Zone” packaging that includes a slew of photo etch and resin detail parts along with the plane. I mention this as some of the detail items, such as this set are now being released to further spruce up the Limited Edition release. This set includes fabric seatbelt pieces as well as the photoetch parts for all of the connectors, buckles, etc.

Thanks very much to our friends at Caracal decals for providing us this sheet and to the reviewer corps leadership and team who continue to keep me straight on my review efforts!

DECALS! One of the reasons I really enjoy plastic modeling. The decals usually mean “We’re almost done”; the final markings are what I look forward to in the build. (anyone out there willing to confess to really enjoying filling and sanding seams?).

Caracal are a relatively new company; they jumped in early, knew the market, and are delivering in a big way. The vast majority of their sheets sell out fast; if you want them, you need to preorder. On their website you can see what is coming, and plan accordingly.

As I write this review, the real F-35C aircraft has recently been performing carrier qualification testing with the US Navy aboard the USS Nimitz (CVN-68), which lasted about two weeks. The C-variant is the last release of the F-35 series following the A-variant that will be flown by the US Air Force and foreign nations purchasing a land-based plane, and the B-model, meant for Short Take-Off and Vertical Landing (STOVL) capabilities required by the US Marine Corps and a few other nations. The F-35C is the navalized version of the plane, which has stronger landing gear, longer wings with hinged tips (for storage onboard aircraft carriers), a tailhook, and the largest internal fuel stores of the three versions. If you follow any articles about the F-35, you already know that it is one of the most controversial aircraft ever produced for the United States, and some initial foreign interests have dried up due to early production issues.