Cavalier Turbo Mustang III
1/48 conversion set for Eduard P-51D/K kit

Part One - In-Box Review

Halberd Models, 1/48 scale

Reviewed by Brett Green

In 1968, Cavalier mated a Rolls-Royce Dart 510 turboprop to a Mustang II airframe. This privately funded prototype was also intended for the same CAS/COIN mission that the Mustang II was built for. The Turbo Mustang III had radically increased performance, along with an associated increase in payload and decrease in cost of maintenance due to the turbine engine.

Despite numerous sales pitches to the United States Air Force, neither the U.S. military nor any foreign operators purchased the Turbo Mustang III.

Seeking a company with mass production capability, the Turbo Mustang prototype, now called "The Enforcer," was sold by Lindsay to Piper Aircraft in 1971.*

Halberd Models from Ukraine have released a 1/48 scale resin Cavalier Turbo Mustang III conversion.

This set has been specifically designed for the Eduard 1/48 scale P-51D/K kits.

Halberd's conversion comprises a surprisingly modest 22 parts in green coloured resin. Two small decal sheets and detailed instructions are also included.

The Cavalier Turbo Mustang III was a radical departure from the WWII fighter and Halberd Models have taken no short cuts. The conversion is comprehensive.

The conversion has also been designed to be as easy as possible to assemble.

In particular the fuselage halves are full-length - no cuts or inserts are required to fit that long Rolls-Royc turboprop engine cowling.

Furthermore, the fuselage halves are cast with locating pins and holes on the mating surfaces.

The kit was delivered with the two fuselage halves taped together (just four small pieces of tape) and the fit was perfect. Remarkable.

One of the perils of choosing the Eduard P-51D as a donor kit is that the exquisitely delicate plastic surface textures woukd be difficult to replicate on the conversion. It turns out that Halberd is up for this challenge though. The recessed panel lines and rows of rivets on the conversion parts are the equal of Eduard's excellent example - crisp, fine and consistent.

In addition to the fuselage halves, the kit also supplies a cowl ring, spinner, extended fin, four additional wing mounts for stores, propeller blades, aerials, exhaust, wing tip tanks, separate noses for the tip tanks and rear seat head rest.

Production quality of these is also excellent.

Each big wing tip tanks is cast onto a small block at the nose. They are handed left and right as clearly indicated on each casting block.

Two small decal sheets are also included.

The instructions are offered in the form of clear diagrams.

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Thumbnail panels:

They look easy to follow.

A parts list and camouflage and markings guide round out this very impressive package.

All you need to add is an Eduard 1/48 scale P-51D/K/ Mustang Mk.IV kit. If you don't have an Eduard Mustang already, the best value for money will be to buy an Overtrees boxing from Eduard's website. These are white-box basic sprue sets with only the plastic parts. They are available for the bargain price of USD$22.95.

Wow. This is a comprehensive and really well executed conversion for what must surely be the coolest of all the Mustang variants.

I am very impressed with the quality of the surface textures and casting. Its thoughtful design also means that only a moderate amount of modelling experience will be required to tackle the project.

There have been a few other 1/48 scale Cavalier Turbo Mustang III conversions released over the years, but this is the only one that has immediately called out for me to build it NOW!

Grab one while you can.

*Historical background courtesy of Wikipedia

Thanks to Halberd Models for the sample

Halberd Models eBay Shop

Halberd Models Facebook Page

Text and Images Copyright © 2021 by Brett Green
Page Created 26 October, 2021
Last updated 8 November, 2021

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