Comments (4)
The intention of Tilly Colours is to highlight the many and varied colour schemes applicable to Tillys during the war years. Indeed, the general colours here are equally applicable to other British military vehicles of the period.
The problem of identifying British wartime colours has always been a tricky one. Throughout the war, there were many interpretations of not only the official camouflage schemes, but also of the colours themselves. Michael Shackleton has compiled this profile using mainly black and white photographs of wartime Tillys with the invaluable help of Mike Starmer who has long been recognised for his work in identifying these colours and patterns.
Virtually every photograph in the book is a black and white picture of a Tilly in military service during the war. The book contains a colour explanation so that the photographs can be usefully interpreted. In most cases, an illustration of, and explanation of, the vehicle’s unit markings is provided. It opens up a wealth of suggestions for accurate liveries that would be appropriate for use on either a restored vehicle or a scale miniature.
The book is designed to be equally useful to both modellers and vehicle restorers/owners proving that there is more than just one plain green colour scheme available to them and that British wartime camouflage is equally as interesting as those used by the opposing Axis forces.
Illustrated with eighty-eight wartime photographs and numerous drawings and unit badges.
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MAINWARING says
An excellent book, covering this increasingly popular type of transport from WW2. This book has used original research and is the first book I have read which correctly covers the Standard tilly. The series UV had a 12hp engine but was built with pre-war 14hp chassis/running gear. All other books attribute the UV tilly as being built from the 12hp car. If nothing else, the accuracy of this book makes it an excellent reference work for WW2 vehicle enthusiasts.
posted at 01:27am Mar 14 PST
PDEBUCQUOY says
I'm just a modeller and a fan of the Tillies, Michael has done a very professional book for all the Tillies fans and I thank him very much for it.
As Michael says : KEEP ON TILLYING !
Thanks again,
Patrice from France.
posted at 11:05am Mar 08 PST
dave37167 says
I am primarily a model builder, and am always on the lookout for references to improve the accuracy of my models. Michael and Mike have often been nice enough to comment on websites, like Track48, on questions asked about the new kits of the Tilly that have been released.
Now, in one place, we have all that we need to build the kits correctly! The book, while small, packs a lot of information on colours used on them in the various Theaters they served in....
Mike Starmer has added some valuable colour research and Mr. Shackleton certainly has provided a wide range of photos to cover as much ground as possible in small treasure!
It was everything I hoped for, and I'm sure it will help anyone restoring a Tilly, or just fascinated by it's history and service useage. Worth every pence, as the old saying went!!!
posted at 04:20am Mar 06 PST
micwinter says
Mike Shackleton, aided by Mike Starmer, has produced an amazing 80-page book dealing with the huge range of colours, patterns and types of camouflage used on the four Tillys during the war. There is a very informative introduction to the book, giving an outline history of the pedigree of the four Tillys. Although most Tilly owners will be aware of this, it should be remembered that the book is also aimed at the non-Tilly and modelling enthusiast alike. The actual colours and patterns are also thoroughly explained (when and where they were introduced) with colour mixes described. Once past this outline introduction, almost every page of the book is a full page picture of a Tilly with a detailed caption to explain what the colours and markings were. Printed and presented on high quality gloss paper, the quality of the book itself is extremely high with nothing ‘amateur’ in its appearance or presentation whatsoever. Far from it!
Virtually every photograph is a black and white picture of a Tilly in military service during the war. The book contains a colour coding explanation so that the black and white photographs can be usefully interpreted. In most cases, an illustration of, and explanation of, the vehicle’s unit markings is also provided. Aimed at modellers originally, the book also embraces the Tilly restorer and opens up a wealth of suggestions of accurate liveries that would be appropriate to be used on a restored vehicle.
Not surprisingly, the photographs are mostly of British Army vehicles, though there are some RAF liveries included. With one exception, a small but entirely excusable omission are Tillys that were used by the Royal Navy.
The contents of the book have been researched in very great detail, with a primary source of information being the Imperial War Museum. The calibre and quality of the information that the book contains can be assessed by this standard.
Although the book covers specifically just the four Tillys, the information it contains could be invaluable to the owners of most other British wartime military vehicles, and it very strongly merits a place on their bookshelves for the technical information regarding the various camouflage types and patterns. It is extremely interesting information which is very largely applicable right across the range of types of vehicle which served with the British Army during the Second World War. It is outstandingly fascinating to anyone with an interest in military vehicles, whether full size or miniature.
For the Tilly owner, the book is an absolute must. Even if there is no intention to ‘do a repaint’ of your pride and joy, the photographs in the book are fascinating. Every page another Tilly, and not just that, but virtually every page is a photograph of a Tilly in real service condition. While photographs of restored vehicles are interesting, images of vehicles in active service condition, warts and all, can tell you so much more, and every iota of information gleaned from such photographs is guaranteed genuine.
I can well see this book appealing to owners far outside the Tilly Register and the Tilly owner, such is the value of the information it contains. It is a subject that has not had wide distribution and readership so far, and this book fills a huge gap in Tilly information and presentation on the rally field. It is a truly fascinating and amazing book, and the two Mikes have done a huge service to the owners and future owners of preserved Tillys. I cannot praise the book enough and just has to be on every Tilly owner’s bookshelf.
posted at 01:39am Feb 23 PST