This British “Car, Light Utility” was based on a passenger car chassis. They were produced by several manufactures and used throughout WWII from Dunkirk to North Africa. Nicknamed “Tilly”, they were powered by a 10 hp engine, lacked 4-wheel drive, and poorly suited for off road assignments. They were used in rear areas and on British airbases in a variety of roles.

This new kit from Tamiya is contains one sprue of gray parts and one of clear parts. The clear parts are for the windshield, windows, one headlight, fender lights, and the canvas cover for the cargo compartment. The molding is crisp and clean with excellent detail and no flash. There is a driver figure included, as well as an excellent decal sheet. The instruction sheet includes 8 construction steps with detail painting call outs form Tamiya paints. It also includes a marking and painting guide on the back of the sheet for 3 trucks.

Construction is straight forward, beginning with the chassis (there are no metal parts in this kit, all plastic here). The wheels are plastic on piece affairs. The cab interior contains 2 seats, a gearshift, a nicely detailed dashboard with left hand drive steering wheel, and a driver if you choose to use it. The side windows are one piece and fit snuggly even without glue. The windshield is fitted from the outside and fits very well.

There are 2 jump seats included for the cargo area, as well as toolboxes molded in. The back of the cab us open, so it the canvas cover in not used the interior of the cab is easy to view.

A spare tire and a shovel are included to be mounted to the top of the cab. The right headlight is a black out light and the left a regular one. There are 2 tiny clear lights to mount on the wings (fenders to us in the colonies), I managed to get them installed without giving them up to the carpet monster. May the force be with you when you get to this step. There is a very nice manual turn signal mounted on the right side of the cab.

You may choose to mount the canvas to of not, and parts are provided to show the rear of the canvas rolled up or closed.

The decal sheet is very complete and has markings for 3 vehicles.

The year I was born (1946) the RAF went to a medium blue paint scheme with black fenders. This is not one of the featured trucks, but I wanted something different on my shelf.

This is an excellent kit. It is well engineered and fun to build. The possibilities for diorama use are endless. I would highly recommend this kit for any modeler with a few kits experience.

I would like to thank Tamiya and IPMS USA for the review sample.