As you’ve heard here before (and likely will again, ad infinitum), Thor Heyerdahl was one of the folks responsible for sparking the world’s fascination with the South Pacific, by subjecting himself to the dangerous task of proving that people could have floated from Peru to Polynesia on a raft of balsa logs. Now, you can let your own Guinea Pigs relive the adventure on this wee raft. Actually, if the seaworthyness of Heyerdahl’s vessel was questionable, this one is downright objectionable. But hey, it looks cool. This is a model kit from Mantua Model to create an actual “historically accurate” balsawood Kon-Tiki raft in 1/18 scale, nearly two feet long. It’s spendy, but you can’t put a price on good family fun like this. Although my dad couldn’t be trusted with the little model pieces, he was always accidentally breaking them. Don’t do any model building with a burly construction worker — that’s my advice to you. Oh — and Mr. Bali Hai really wants one of these for Christmas.

• Kon-Tiki Model [Model Expo]
• Paint Kit for Kon-Tiki Model [Model Expo]
• Hula-Hulu Kon-Tiki [Eye of the Goof]