# Tilly Van



## Owen E Oulton (Jan 6, 2012)

I picked up Tamiya's nice little British 10HP Light Utility Car, or "Tilly" as it was known and am doing it up in the markings of one of the unsung armies of WWII - one that never fired a shot!

I'm talking about the Salvation Army which did sterling service with its mobile canteens during the Blitz. I've collected a variety of photos of mobile cateens run by the SA, the YMCA, the Red Cross and NAAFI, using various types of Tillies. The SA served hot tea and doughnuts to civilians and servicemen alike. The song went "There's nothing like an Army cup of tea. No, there's nothing like an Army cup of tea. They produce it on the spot, from Hong Kong to Aldershot. No, there's nothing like an Army cup of tea." 

Later I may pick up another and do up one with HRH Princess Elizabeth (now Queen Elizabeth II) in London during the war. I found some photos when I was researching the Tilly and they show her leaning on the fender of an Austin 10.

I was raised in the Salvation Army (which not everyone knows is actually a Christian Church, not just a charity) and currently live in a Salvation Army nursing home, so I thought I would do one up and submit some photos to the Salvationist Magazine. And remember, when you see the volunteers out freezing their noses off manning the kettles this Christmas, please toss a couple of bucks in - it'll help someone in need.


----------



## Owen E Oulton (Jan 6, 2012)

Started doing the buildup. It's a dream, as there is next to no modification needed to the model - all scratchbuilt additions in the bed area. You just need to leave a couple of bits off and replace them. For instance, the tailgate and the panel below it are replaced by the canteen's back wall The only modification I needed to make to the kit parts was to sand the raised lip in the cab roof flush with the roof itself so the shelf over the cab would sit flush. I'm doing the canteen module with .020 styrene, which works out to 2/3" in 1/35 scale - I'm assuming it will adequately represent half to three quarters inch plywood. The one thing I have yet to determine is what the fuel tank for the cooker should look like. I know that small propane cookstoves were available, so I just need to find out what a 1940's propane tank looked like. One diagram I have is a tutorial on how to fill a propane tank from WW2, and the cartoon drawings seem to show a tank not too dissimilar to a scuba tank, so I'm wondering if one of the tanks from a Tamiya flamethrower from the Allied weapons pack would be adequate.


----------

