Model Art has done it again. Back in April 2013 they released Air War over Vietnam, U.S. Navy Aircraft Part 1. This Model Art Modeling Magazine special edition, Air War Over Vietnam 2, U.S. Air Force Aircraft Part 1, is the follow up and they have made some changes to the layout from the excellent first issue. The text is mainly in Japanese with some English subtitles throughout. One excellent feature of these magazines is the high quality of the photographs and the models that are used.

The issue starts off with a “New Kit Selection” article. It features the Hasegawa 1/16 Sopwith Camel F.1 and the Tamiya 1/72 Mitsubishi A6M3 "Zero Fighter".

The main feature is next. This consists of eighty seven pages packed full of models, period photos (color and black and white), maps, charts, marking references and color plate drawings.

Let’s get started with the models. The models used for the article are as follows: Revell 1/48 F-100D Super Sabre, Trumpeter 1/72 F-100F Super Sabre, Meng-Model 1/72 F-102A Delta Dagger, Hobby Boss 1/48 F-105G Thunderchief, Hasegawawa 1/48 F-104C Starfighter, Revell 1/72 F-1015D Thunderchief, Fujimi 1/72 F-4C Phantom II, Hasegawa 1/48 F-4E Phantom II, and the Kinetic 1/48 F-5A Freedom Fighter. Each model is accompanied by photos and tips on how to improve that particular model.

The next part of the main feature is a narrative that covers the operational history of the U.S. Air Force in Viet Nam. The only negative is that it is written in Japanese and unless you use some type of translation program it is unreadable. The positives are the beautiful period photos. These are a mix of color and black and white that show aircraft in flight and on the ground. Following this is an article that covers camouflage and markings: The SAC scheme, TAC scheme and the Asia Minor Scheme along with the FS numbers associated with each. Also included is a section that covers markings found on aircraft from this era. This includes the measurements for placement, the size of the letters and an example of stencils that could be found on some aircraft. There are fourteen pages of color artwork of multiple aircraft. These are some great drawings with a big emphasis on the nose art and minute details of the aircraft. The next several pages are encompassed with charts. The first being a listing of tail codes along with the squadron, aircraft used and the color associated with that particular squadron. The next chart is all of the shoot downs by the USAF starting from 1965. They list the date, aircraft, serial number, squadron, tail code, crew, call sign, what weapon was used for the shoot down and type of aircraft shot down. Of interesting note, this is all in English. To conclude the special feature Model Art lists the kits that are available to represent USAF from the Viet Nam War. Many of these are older kits.

To conclude this special issue there are two more model articles and one historic/modeling article. The first is for the T-28 Trojan. This starts with four pages of line drawings and then gets to the model. They use the Sword 1/72 T-28C. The next model is the Revell 1/48 F-86D-31 Sabre Dog. The article starts with a great series of color walk around photos from an aircraft that is in a museum. It then goes into the coverage of the model itself and finishes with two pages of color art drawings. The last article is titled "The Loop over Port Moresby". This is a short article that features a diorama of three Zeros in flight over a map of Port Moresby.

Even though the majority of the print is in Japanese, I still find this magazine a wealth of modeling information due to the great photography.

If you have an interest in USAF aircraft from the Viet Nam War you would find this book interesting.

I would like to thank Model Art and IPMS/USA for the opportunity to review this product.