Holiday Season Snacks

Let's face it, far too many people eat too much crap all the time, but even the most conscientious people eat a bit of junk food during the holiday season. Here in Australia, with the festivities taking place in the middle of summer, the temptations to eat ice-creams, hot dogs, burgers, chips and other threats to Western Civilisation are just about everywhere – at home, at the beach, out on the street – we're surrounded by it. And so I thought I'd do a little diorama celebrating World Junk Food Day, whenever and wherever it occurs.

The models used here are, on the left, a 1:76 railway scale model from Oxford Diecast, of
Bob's Hot Dogs (with a suitable bunch of healthy young people about to be led astray).
On the right is a 1:43 Premium Classixxs model of a Gino's Gelato sidecar outfit, powered
by a Zundapp Bella 204 scooter.

Now, I've always been a bit of a scooter fan – owned one a one stage and have ridden many, and so there was always going to be room for scooters in my diecast cabinets. As soon as I saw my first diecast scooter with a sidecar attached I decided they were what I wanted to buy, and so far I have managed to accumulate three of them.

On the left is the Zundapp Bella Gelato seller, from Premium Classixxs. In the foreground
is an old Matchbox Lambretta, in play-worn but OK condition. I got quite a shock when I
ventured onto eBay to find one of these. In mint condition, in an original box, they can fetch
over $200. My price range is more around the $20-$30 mark, and so the trick is to buy one
that is a bit knocked about, not in its box, but still looks good from three feet away.
I finally found this one for about $30, and it's great. In the background, at the right, is a
dreadfully botched job (by me) of assembling and painting a 1:43 white metal kit of a Vespa
with a Swallow sidecar. If you're not familiar with the Swallow name, go look up the
history of Jaguar cars and you'll find they started out in life (in the 20s & 30s) as
coachbuilders, and one of their lines was sidecars for motorcycles.

Finally, an action shot of me on a Vespa PX 200E, back in the 1980s. This isn't the scooter
I owned – I had a Honda Lead 125 for several months – but I loved riding Vespas when
I got the chance. They reminded me of the big twin BMW bikes of the times: very very
solidly built, with clunky gearboxes, quirky but basically sound handling once you learned
to ride it right, a grunty engine and a comfy seat.  

There's a whole fascinating history behind Vespas which I guess I can make
the subject of a posting here one day, but right now that's it from me. I think I have a bit more junk food to eat. It is the holiday season after all!