Wartime PL53

I've finally got hold of a PL53 for my collection with a bit of history attached to it.

The homemade case suggests that it once belonged to Capt. Polyblank of the Royal Tank Regiment. I've done a little research and it turns out he served in WWII, possibly at El Alamein. (The lamp might have seen active service!)

The fount is steel and has a light coating of silver paint on it and instructions on the importance of keeping the tank dry to prevent rust.

I hope to get this beauty back up and running with a bit of TLC, however some questions arise and I hope fellow forum members can help me out?

The fount has marks of an untidy join at the base with small "gobs/drips" and some by the pressure indicator t*t.
I know that steel tanks were used instead of brass during the war but is it normal to have an untidy join like this or is it a repair job?

I have seen steel fount PL53's on the internet in a pale "RAF Blue", would silver have been a colour also used?
Is there anyone who sells duplicates of the instruction label/transfer?

It's an really interesting lamp for me, especially with the "provenance" that comes with it !

 

Is it possible that the fount was dipped (tinned) in a lead or solder bath during manufacture? I have seen some very old blow torches that were.

 

I've seen a few wartime PL53s that colour and with the 'seam' running around the tank. I did ask here about it but I can't recall what conclusions we reached (if any!)...

 

The steel tanks were dipped and often have this rather crude appearance. They are see often enough in that silver finish and I have no doubt it is original. Kinda obvious anyway since the decal is over the paint. Army issue? Very possible since this was the current Tilley lantern during WW2. ::Neil::

 

A nice find with the box and history. Good luck getting it up and running.

 

Beautiful. I couldn't paint that one. Its history is all there to see.

 

It appears all 40,s steel tanks have been coated inside and out to prevent corrosion as Phaedrus says.
The heat from soldering the base in results in the outside coating softening and a ridge/slump showing on the outside.I have an AL 8 which shows a raised ring on the outside, there are other Tilley steel tanks discussed that also show this .
G.P.