Estes #1902 Space Station Aquarius build
 

No kit in my stash is immune from being cut open and built. In this case it's the vintage Estes Space Station Aquarius #1902.

Despite it's age, the kit is premium! The plethora of tubes are completely round. The decal sheet still appears fresh. The only detriments are that the 3/32" balsa sheet is quite fossilized as is the rubber shock cord.

To begin, with a few, easy straight cuts I replaced the "die crushed" balsa parts with parts slit from my flattest sheet of 3/32" Midwest basswood.

I gave the 18mm engine mount the royal treatment: epoxy for the adhesive, a 100# Kevlar leader for the shock cord, and I replaced the fossilized rubber shock cord with an extra long, 1/8" wide elastic fabric shock cord.

TBC

I built a PDR version of this back before they crapped out.

Bill-
I built the PDR version as well.
Lost it on the first flight to an old Cox D8-3 cato at about 400'.
I really liked their kits.
Bummed me out the way they folded.

Now for some technique with the faux missile tubes. (Hmmm, why does a space station need missile tubes?)

I tape a length of 1/2" x 1/2" angle aluminum to my Corian board. This will act as a fence as I register the (2) 3-tube assemblies to it as the epoxy holding the tubes together hardens. Also as the epoxy hardens I lay my steel ruler across the top of the assemblies to give it just a little bit of weight to keep them flat. After the epoxy hardens I apply epoxy fillets to clean up the joints of the tubes.

Next I assemble the bottom BT60 assembly and epoxy the rings to tube joints from the inside with a long applicator stick. I then epoxy the BT60 assembly to the central BT50 with the engine mount in it.

I then mount the basswood fins/faux solar arrays, the standoffs for the missile tubes, and the launch lug to the BT60 and fillet all the joints with epoxy.

Time for some ethyl alcohol.

Good night.

TBC

ALL U. S. space stations should have MISSILE TUBES.
Ya never know when a BLLLASSTT-OOOO is needed. Not joking either.

They should all have these...


And these...

Nice!

Missile tubes? I thought they were water tanks for the hydroponic gardens.

Ummm, instructions says long and short fuel tanks.
But I like missile tubes better. :D

Step 8 of my instructions says "missile pods". This the Space Station Aquarius. You might be thinking of the Explorer Aquarius.

Besides, fuel would soak through the paper. Duh! :D