BUSH WARRIOR

Jon Tabinor assesses Halberd's 1/48 conversion, creating a horse to crow about.

Cavalier Turbo Mustang III

Used with P-51D-20 Mustang Weekend 1/48 kit from Eduard (ref 84176)

Scale: 1/48

Type: Resin conversion with decals

Manufacturer: Halberd Models www.ebay.com/str/halberdmodels

August 1977, somewhere over southeastern Angola, Captain Tinus Du Plessis banked his Voëltjie sharply and observed the blazing trucks in satisfaction as they cast flickering shadows over the scrubby veld. He'd heard that the story of how the euphemistically named Bureau of International Technical Evaluation in Pretoria had managed to 'acquire' the plans for the Cavalier Turbo-Mustang a few years before was worth a few beers and a good laugh. But however BITE had managed it, the several dozen Swaartkraaie that Atlas had built for the South African Air Force were proving their worth chewing up the enemy in the long, and increasingly fierce, bush war being fought in the northern areas of southern Africa.