The main body of Explorer 1 was a 6-inch nominal ID PVC pipe. It had numerous decorative embellishments, including many screws inserted to look like the rivets and screws originally used, a paint job designed to look like the original stainless steel and white coloring, as well as a chrome-painted coupling ring, and a section representing the original aft fiberglass slot antenna, the Juno 1 rocket booster attachment, and meteoroid sensor. Four stainless steel rods were threaded into the body to represent the four whip antennae used on the original. These had rubber tips added for safety - this was, after all, a display piece.

Afterward, the nose cone and tail cone were inserted and attached with screws.