facade Assembly Instructions

Assembling the Facade Elements

Unpacking the Facade Pieces
Unpack your facade and remove the elements from the packaging. Inspect the contents for damage or printing inperfections. Contact Shapeways if you encounter any problems.

Cleaning out powder from around the stanchions
The stanchion elements each have a slot cut through them to accept the trellis pieces (see image). These typically are caked with power, which must be removed prior to assembly. I use a paper partially opened clip - holding the stanchion part over a receptacle to catch the powder - to force the powder out of the slot (see image).

Cleaning powder out of stanchion slot.

Once the parts have been cleaned, you are ready to assemble them. Make sure your hands are clean, as the material is very good at picking up oil and dirt from you hands.

Assembling the Facade Pieces
The pieces are designed to have a tight, interference fit at the joint between the tab and slot of the stanchion and trellis. No glue is required. The clips at the bottom of the trellis keep the two pieces aligned and are a looser fit.

Hold a stanchion piece in one hand a trellis piece in the other (see image).

Align pieces for assembly.

Keeping the alignment clip clear of the stanchion, gently wiggle the trellis piece while pushing the tab into the slot (see image).

Keep the alignment clip above the stanchion and wiggle the trellis piece into the slot.

If it appears to be taking too much force to get the pieces together, you may want to pull the pieces back apart - wiggle the trellis as you gently pull. Then apply a very thin coat of Vaseline to the trellis tab and repeat the above assembly procedure.

When the trellis piece is fully inserted into the stanchion, gently allow the alignment clip to fall over the edge of the lower stanchion piece (see image).

Facade mounting Ideas

These facade elements can be mounted to walls bookshelves, or any flat surface using double stick foam tape. You can also mount them to be free standing using the table top mounts, consisting of 3/16" flag pole bases and wooden dowels (see below). If you discover other ways to mount your facade elements, please let me know.

Mounting on flat surfaces
Double stick foam tape works the best for mounting the facade elements on flat surfaces like walls, or book shelves. It makes for a solid mount to most surfaces and can be easily removed when necessary.

The double stick foam tape usually has one side that has a paper cover that needs to be peeled off. This side has somewhat stronger adhesive than the side that's rolled back on itself. This is the side you want to attach to the facade stanchion. The other side will attach to whatever your mounting the facade on.

Facade alignment
If you're mounting to a bookshelf edge, you have a built in reference line to work with. Align the facade such that the top of the trellis element aligns with the top surface of the shelf. This is the same alignment that the facade had with stadium roof.

If your mounting to a wall, it's a good idea to have a reference line to align to. A laser level is the best way to accomplish this, as it won't leave marks on the wall. If you don't have a laser level, use a carpenter's level/straight edge to draw tick marks to one side, or the other, of where each stanchion will mount and align the top of the trellis to it. Align the trellis sections to the reference line.

Attach the tape side to the stanchion

Mounting
Using 3/4" foam tape (you can also use the 1" type), cut, or tear a 3/4" section from the roll for each stanchion element you have in your facade assembly. Peel the tape off and attach this side to the facade stanchion element.
For single trellis facade assemblies, mount one end first, carefully aligning the top of the trellis element to your mounting line and pressing firmly on the top of the stanchion element, then repeat with the second stanchion element.

If your facade is longer than a single trellis element, you can either mount one trellis element to the flat surface first, then assemble the next section with the first part already mounted, or mount the assembled facade in one go, attaching the inner stanchion elements first, being careful to align the top of the trellis element to your alignment marks. When you have the alignment right, firmly press on the top of the stanchion element to seat it. Then work your way to the outer most stanchion elements and repeat, making sure the trellis elements are all aligned to the reference line.

Mounting double facade section on bookshelf, starting with the middle stanchion.

The foam tape is very strong and makes a stable bond when mounted to wood, plaster, or plastic. To remove the facade from a bookshelf edge, just press on the bottom of the stanchion. The tape will separate from the mounting surface, or the stanchion. To remove the facade from a wall, use a flat blade screwdriver to get under the bottom of the stanchion elements. Rotate the screwdriver to pop the stanchion element off the wall.

Table top mounts

For table top mounts, I recommend using museum putty. You'll need to get a hold of some additional materials:

Flag pole bases for use with single 3/16" flags (one for each stanchion element in your facade). These are the ones shown in the example.
A section of 3/16" wood dowel (the length required will depend on the number of stanchions and how long you want the mounting poles to be).

Table top mounting supplies (double trellis shown).

Table top mount, dowel alignment

You'll need to decide how high you want your facade to sit above the surface of the table, or shelf you want to display them on. The ones shown here are 6" long - about 2-1/2" of the dowel is hidden behind the stanchion. The example here is two trellis elements long, so there are three bases and three 6" dowels required. You should be able to get dowel material in 4' lengths at your local hardware store.
Be careful to cut the dowels to exactly the same length. I recommend you paint the dowels black to match the bases. The black really sets off the white facade nicely.

Tabletop mount with museum putty
Cutoff two 3/4" x 1/4" pieces of museum putty (per stanchion).

Measure and cut the museum putty

Dowel mounting location, centered on stanchion element.

Place one piece just below the mounting pad (see image) and the other at the bottom of the stanchion (see image). Lightly press the putty in place (see image).

Placing the museum putty on the stanchions.

Take the dowel and align it such that the top of the dowel is just below the overhang of the mounting pad. Make sure the dowel is placed along the center of the stanchion (see image).

Placing the dowel on the stanchions.

Press the dowel into the putty maintaining the alignment. You can adjust the alignment as required (see figure).

Pressing the dowel into the museum putty.

Repeat the process of as many stanchions as required.

Dowel pressed into the museum putty on the stanchion element.

Assemble the flag pole bases and dowel mounted stanchions (see image). Now you're ready to assemble your facade and bases (see figures below).

Assembled stanchions.

Assembling the facade elements.

The Finished assembly.

That's it! Now you can make some flags and add them to your facade elements.