Rather rashly, I've embarked on a quest to collect one example of every colour X246B that Tilley made. So far, I've got gold, red, metallic red and metallic blue. I understand they also sold polished brass and chrome plated versions. Is that the lot? And I wonder if anyone can tell me the years when Tilley offered the intriguing 'metallic' red and blue colours? Phil
I think you'll find the metallic blue is a red herring....someones personal choice of colour.. In fact the metallic red sounds dodgy too, strip the blue one to get your polished brass one
Well, I've seen several metallic red ones and they all look factory-made. The blue one is on its way to me as we speak, and as I've not seen one before I agree it might be dodgy, or a special perhaps?
Hello Jeff, Yes, I think that my description of "metallic red" should read "bronze". The finish itself is more like a deeply tinted varnish than the more common solid paint colour. These are less frequently seen than the solid colours, and I was just wondering how many were made and when, as I've not seen them mentioned in any of the leaflets in the reference section. Phil
Lamps in that metalic bronze were sold between 1978 and 1981. From May 1978 to August 1981 it is the only colour I have recorded for X246B. In the price lists there is no colour given for the painted version but throughout the period there was also a chrome plated version on offer. The chrome version was more expensive which may explain why I have none recorded in that period. ::Neil::
Hi Neil and thank you very much for the information, which I think confirms that the bronze lamp is my youngest X246B. Phil
Well, the pale metallic blue X246B arrived today. It's date stamped September 1981 and looks like a factory original. I'll post a picture once I've cleaned it up. Phil
Tilley never catalogued a blue storm lamp. However with Tilley you can never say never because they always did contract sales of specials and if a buyer wanted a blue batch then they would have made them. However without any provenance I am sceptical that the blue is original. Show me proof of a blue batch and I will believe. Problem here is it is actually quite easy to re paint a tank in any colour you like and if you are practiced at it then you can easily make it look original. It so happens I have a blue Tilley here. This is listed as LT2 which was given to me by a guy who had it from his uncle who worked for LT and told me it was his works lantern. Did Tilley make a blue batch for LT? Maybe they did but I don't actually know yet. ::Neil::
...and I've got a blue Tilley table-lamp. But is it a genuine Tilley effort? - somehow, I doubt it...
Oh well, chaps, the truth is out there. Congratulations to Paul M for guessing that the blue X246B was a red herring, or more correctly a blue herring. I wrote to Tilley and asked them if they ever made a blue version, or if the lamp had been re-sprayed by a previous owner. I quote from their e-mail in reply: "You are correct the lamp has been re-sprayed, we have never manufactured a blue model" Never mind, it works fine after a service. Sorry about the quality of the image, I blame my iPhone and promise to do better next time... Thanks to everyone for your interest and advice. Phil
Mine that I believe to be an X246B is polished brass, but I think that might be a red herring too because there still seems to be the remnants of some gold paint on the base. I'm guessing it got a bit scruffy and a previous owner decided to strip it back to the brass... Personally I think it looks better that way. The only possibly odd thing is that my pump is solid brass, but I have noticed from photographs on this forum that a lot of them appear to be a silver coloured metal... steel??
Hi Gneiss, Tilley used cheaper and easier to machine aluminium on their X246B's instead of brass. Probably someone replaced a malfuntioning alu pump for an older brass one. No problem there, as they both seem to work fine when in good condition. Best regards, Wim
Back to the topic of colours (or more correctly the type of finish on the fount) I think I now have a full set: - Polished brass - Painted gold - Painted red - Painted metallic bronze - Chromium plated - Speculum plated Was there actually a difference between the last two? The chrome X246B model certainly appears to have a shinier finish than my 'speculum' X246A, the latter being a more matt finish. However it's a lot older and in not such good condition. Was 'speculum' merely Tilley's fancy marketing hype for 'chrome' or a different type of plating altogether? Phil
Hi Phil I'm sure you already know but Speculum is simply Latin for mirror... So I would guess that is the intended finish. David and Wim, thanks for the info... I'm sure I'll have other questions later but I'll post them in the other thread along with a picture of it working once it does
Matthew, Thank you very much for that link - a nice read. It is therefore possible, although not definite, that Tilley abandoned Speculum plating in favour of the somewhat cheaper and more readily available chromium plating for the X246B. Phil
As Neil has speculated (sorry!) elsewhere - just how do you electroplate an alloy? Anyone got a clue..?
These guys seem to know... I've no connection with them, simply found their service after a quick Google search.
Sorry, perhaps I wasn't clear enough. The question should have been, 'How do you electroplate an alloy (i.e. speculum) onto another metal..?
Yes, a good question. However, I did find this which suggests that speculum plating was done successfully. Other research mentions the excellent heat-reflecting properties of speculum plating and that it was used on Tilley's heaters and floodlights.
