These following steps show you how to assemble the Tower.
THE TOWER KIT:
Contents include 2 wide frames, 2 narrow frames, the top frame, a 'fitting block', the half ball, spire, trim and pre-cut vellum. There is also an internal frame piece (the smaller of the two squares inside the round bottom flat trim). This piece will be used right at the end of the process and will NOT be painted.
**NOTICE**, The Tower has some more fragile areas. This means it is more susceptible to cracks and breaks. Take extra care with handling these parts.
CUT OUT PARTS:
Before trying to punch the parts out of the kit, turn the kit face-down and cut as far through the tabs as possible. Each part has 3 or 4 tabs.
Once you cut each of the tabs, the parts should pop out of the kit fairly easily. You'll then want to clean up those tab locations so that they are nice and smooth.
PARTS LAYOUT:
Using the Top Frame piece (the center 'square' piece), align the 4 tower faces Face Down as shown above. Have the "Fitting Block" on hand ready to use.
Now tip up the 2 narrow faces, as well as ONE of the wide frames. Use the 'Fitting Block' to ensure the faces are aligned on their edges and to hold it temporarily.
Now add glue to the edges of the narrow faces, anywhere that the one remaining wide face will make contact (where the red lines are in the image above).
** Do NOT add glue to the Top (center) frame yet.
Then tip up the wide face and, while ensuring the face edges are all aligned properly, hold until the glue sets:
Now repeat this process on the other wide face (still avoid adding glue to the top center frame).
GLUE IN TOP FRAME:
With the side faces glued and set and still using the fitting block to ensure squareness, we now remove the top frame to add glue and then glue onto the structure.
And you end with this:
The faces/frame is now assembled. Please note: DO NOT add glue to the inner sides/edges of this assembled part. You don't want any glue to be visible from the inside of the structure, because we need the vellum to fit in there properly in a future step.
We advise you to leave the 'Fitting Block' in place temporarily (BUT DO NOT GLUE THIS PART IN) to avoid accidental bending/twisting of the frame.
ASSEMBLE THE CUPOLA:
We now move to the cupola. Start with the pieces shown above: The half ball and the bottom flat trim piece.
On the half ball, you'll find one area that is not like the rest. This area is where the machinery used held the ball while it cut it into shape. We like to 'hide' that area of the ball on the back of the tower (so it won't be seen as much). To plan for this, align that 'odd' area between two of the tab locations on the flat bottom trim, as shown below: (tab locations marked with red arrows in image below)
With the bottom flat trim held in place, and centered on that odd area of the cupola ball, make pencil marks on the edge of the half ball where each of the tabs marks are on the bottom flat trim. Then, after removing the bottom flat trim, transfer those marks to the bottom of the half ball, as shown below. We'll use these marks to align the thin trim.
Take the thin trim piece and place the center circle close to the center of the cupola ball. it doesn't have to be perfect. Two of the trim straight sides bend easily, the other two need a little more cautious encouragement to bend down.
Bend down the two (easier to bend) straight pieces and flip the ball over. On the bottom, align the trim pieces to where the pencil marks are on the bottom. Then adjust the thin trim so that both of the edges sticking out the bottom of the cupola ball are equal length (shown with red arrows in image below).
Then carefully bend down the other two straight trim pieces (GO SLOWLY SO AS NOT TO BREAK THE TRIM LEG) and ensure they are both equal length on the bottom. Take your time to get all 4 of the 'legs' equal distance out the bottom of the cupola ball. Doing this will make the center circle of the trim perfectly centered on the top of the ball.
While holding the trim in place, carefully turn the ball over and use a pencil to mark the center circle and 2 of the trim legs so that you can more easily place the trim on when gluing (shown with arrows in the image above).
Then add a small amount of glue to the very top circle (shown with red circle in image above), replace on the ball, aligning with the pencil marks and hold in place, as shown below (pencil marks shown with red arrows in image below):
Once the center of the trim is glued, you can then add glue to each of the legs (one at a time) and bend down (carefully!) tight and glue into place. Make sure, while bending the trim legs down, that the end aligns with the pencil marks on the bottom of the ball.
All 4 trim legs are now glued down to the ball. You'll note that the trim pieces will still stick out just a bit out the bottom of the ball. Once the glue is dry, you'll trim off that slight excess trim so that it ends up flush with the bottom flat side of the ball.
We now move to the cupola. Start with the pieces shown above: The half ball and the bottom flat trim piece.
On the half ball, you'll find one area that is not like the rest. This area is where the machinery used held the ball while it cut it into shape. We like to 'hide' that area of the ball on the back of the tower (so it won't be seen as much). To plan for this, align that 'odd' area between two of the tab locations on the flat bottom trim, as shown below: (tab locations marked with red arrows in image below)
With the bottom flat trim held in place, and centered on that odd area of the cupola ball, make pencil marks on the edge of the half ball where each of the tabs marks are on the bottom flat trim. Then, after removing the bottom flat trim, transfer those marks to the bottom of the half ball, as shown below. We'll use these marks to align the thin trim.
TRIM THE CUPOLA:
Take the thin trim piece and place the center circle close to the center of the cupola ball. it doesn't have to be perfect. Two of the trim straight sides bend easily, the other two need a little more cautious encouragement to bend down.
Bend down the two (easier to bend) straight pieces and flip the ball over. On the bottom, align the trim pieces to where the pencil marks are on the bottom. Then adjust the thin trim so that both of the edges sticking out the bottom of the cupola ball are equal length (shown with red arrows in image below).
Then carefully bend down the other two straight trim pieces (GO SLOWLY SO AS NOT TO BREAK THE TRIM LEG) and ensure they are both equal length on the bottom. Take your time to get all 4 of the 'legs' equal distance out the bottom of the cupola ball. Doing this will make the center circle of the trim perfectly centered on the top of the ball.
While holding the trim in place, carefully turn the ball over and use a pencil to mark the center circle and 2 of the trim legs so that you can more easily place the trim on when gluing (shown with arrows in the image above).
Then add a small amount of glue to the very top circle (shown with red circle in image above), replace on the ball, aligning with the pencil marks and hold in place, as shown below (pencil marks shown with red arrows in image below):
Once the center of the trim is glued, you can then add glue to each of the legs (one at a time) and bend down (carefully!) tight and glue into place. Make sure, while bending the trim legs down, that the end aligns with the pencil marks on the bottom of the ball.
All 4 trim legs are now glued down to the ball. You'll note that the trim pieces will still stick out just a bit out the bottom of the ball. Once the glue is dry, you'll trim off that slight excess trim so that it ends up flush with the bottom flat side of the ball.
FINAL ASSEMBLY OF CUPOLA:
We're now ready to glue the half ball to the bottom flat trim. Make note of the location of the 'odd area' on the half ball. This area needs to be on the 'back' of the bottom flat trim. Be sure that the excess trim is cut off at the bottom of the half ball as well.
Now simply realign the tabs locations on the bottom flat trim with the legs of the thin trim, and glue these two parts together, shown below:
Once the glue is well dried on the thin trim, you'll want to drill the center hole with a 3/16" drill bit. Be careful to keep the drill perfectly vertical so the spire will be vertical as well. You will want to drill about 1/4" into the ball, but the actual depth can be whatever you want it to be and will be adjustable when you glue in the spire.
We're now ready to glue the half ball to the bottom flat trim. Make note of the location of the 'odd area' on the half ball. This area needs to be on the 'back' of the bottom flat trim. Be sure that the excess trim is cut off at the bottom of the half ball as well.
Now simply realign the tabs locations on the bottom flat trim with the legs of the thin trim, and glue these two parts together, shown below:
SPIRE INSTALLATION:
Once the glue is well dried on the thin trim, you'll want to drill the center hole with a 3/16" drill bit. Be careful to keep the drill perfectly vertical so the spire will be vertical as well. You will want to drill about 1/4" into the ball, but the actual depth can be whatever you want it to be and will be adjustable when you glue in the spire.
Now dry-fit the spire into place, adjust for your desired height, then add glue and install the spire.
And the Cupola is Finished!
DO NOT GLUE THE CUPOLA TO THE TOWER STRUCTURE YET! You'll need access into the top of the tower structure to insert the Vellum so we'll glue these 2 parts together in a later step.
PAINTING:
At this point, you'll want to paint both the frame and the cupola with your chosen color. Color is your choice, but we like a forest green. Be sure to paint the underside of the cupola as well as it will be visible on the completed Advent House. Try not to get too much paint on the inside of the frame/faces because the Vellum needs to fit perfectly in there.
VELLUM PREP:
The vellum is pre-cut and ready to fold and install. You'll fold on the dashed lines, including on the tiny area on the very end (the left side of the pic above). And you end up with this:
You'll note that the two 'open ends' have matching tabs/slots. BE VERY CAREFUL as you slowly work the tabs into their slots.
Below, you can see you'll need to 'mis-align' the ends just a bit:
Slide the tabs through their respective slots:
Then re-align the ends and fold down the tabs and end:
FINAL TOWER ASSEMBLY:
And it's Done! The tower is complete and ready to place on top of the Atrium!
PAINTING:
At this point, you'll want to paint both the frame and the cupola with your chosen color. Color is your choice, but we like a forest green. Be sure to paint the underside of the cupola as well as it will be visible on the completed Advent House. Try not to get too much paint on the inside of the frame/faces because the Vellum needs to fit perfectly in there.
VELLUM PREP:
The vellum is pre-cut and ready to fold and install. You'll fold on the dashed lines, including on the tiny area on the very end (the left side of the pic above). And you end up with this:
You'll note that the two 'open ends' have matching tabs/slots. BE VERY CAREFUL as you slowly work the tabs into their slots.
Below, you can see you'll need to 'mis-align' the ends just a bit:
Slide the tabs through their respective slots:
Then re-align the ends and fold down the tabs and end:
FINAL TOWER ASSEMBLY:
Once the parts are assembled as shown above, and the wood parts are painted, you are now ready for final assembly.
To insert the vellum into the structure, you'll want to pinch the vellum as shown below. Not so much to crease it, but enough to bring in the corners just a bit:
Then slip the vellum up into the structure:
Until the vellum sits all the way up to the bottom of the top center frame piece. The bottom of the vellum should align with the bottom of the faces (not the little legs on the faces)
Now you'll insert the internal frame piece and carefully slide it all the way to the top (this might take just a bit of work, just be careful not to rip the vellum). This piece is used to press the vellum out against the tower faces. You may choose to add a tiny drop of glue at the top to hold this part in place.
Then you'll add a tiny drop of glue on all 4 sides around the bottom and hold the vellum in place.
Finally, align the tower faces with the cupola (keep the 'odd area' of the ball on the back), and Glue!
And it's Done! The tower is complete and ready to place on top of the Atrium!
If you are following the steps, you should be done with the Atrium. Finish up the windows, door and structure and you should be really close to having your Christmas Advent House Complete!
Questions? Please feel free to contact us on our website!
