TMM 015: Portable Library & Free 3D Printable Wargaming Kit

The Portable Library

So I've dabbled into woodwork. It's about 1am writing this, I've finally reached the point where I can load it up my portable library with books... and it looks magical!

I have learned so much in the last couple of days. This is the first time I've done anything like this before and it's sort of therapeutic being tossed into a totally new world. None of my known skills are really applicable, I can't fudge bad measurements, I can't fix everything with milliput and I have to think about the process and order of operations of how I make something.

It's very exciting to feel challenged in this way and I'm really hooked. I also think it's a really good learning experience for me to remember what it's like being really intimated starting a new hobby and feeling like every question is a silly one and then work out how I can apply that to teaching scale modeling.

A lot of the materials are recycled from things I've found around the studio.

These draws once held microphones but needed to be resized to fit so I patched all the worn felt and added colourful backs made out of old signs. I like that the draws have all this secret colour.

Next I have to fix wheels to the lid, and work out what I've going to do with the space inside the lid. Maybe that could hold particularly important books on display?

This year my focus is really about developing new skills, especially skills in other disciplines. To get the project where it is so far I've learned how to use a tablesaw, router, hammer and chisel, and a japanese hand saw. I'm also learning to measure more accurately. And I've also received vigorous teasing from my friend Zane who has kept me cutting off any fingers.

Zane also left a gift on my tablesaw...

Which honestly seems like a fun video idea, maybe I can get him in a video to teach how to make the chest part of a Mimic and I can sculpt the rest.

I also started welding lessons today. More to come.

Hi Trent and Rachel!

This is Elijah's Lantern; the lighthouse that exists in the mind of my cursed wickie bloodhunter, Elijah Winslow, with his soul as the light. This was the final boss of a One-Shot I ran for my friends set in my friends campaign setting.

-Daniel Martinelli

Thanks for sharing Daniel - such a cool creation.

I get asked comments and receive emails like this all the time! This is one of my favourite things when I see people make stuff inspired by my stuff.

The answer is pretty much always yes, as long it's my permission to give. Monetising that thing is typically absolutely fine too.

Typically I only ask that in some convenient way for you that you link back to my work because it means that maybe someone else might get inspired to make something too.

I've got a few comments like this and I understand it. But for me, in 14 years of tabletop (wow, I haven't really thought about that number) my only regrets have only ever been selling models or books that are hard to replace that would be useful or interesting now. Having a bits box of old sentimental projects is how the Nurgle Diaries started. Now those sentimental projects bring me joy in many ways because despite being transformed or recontextualised, they still hold all that old nostalgia and joy and memories when I look at them and I recognise a head or body or arm. I can recognize all the model bits and how I got them or who gave them to me on every Nurgle Diaries model I own (that might be a fun bonus video and maybe I should do that before I get too old).

One thing I love about my models is many of them have lived many tabletop lives of lots of different games or projects and each time they are reimagined they gain new scars and improvements. I doubt some of my models will stay as they are in a few years time and eventually will again be transformed into something new.

This is a download link to my 3D Printable Wargaming Kit (available just for this month, and usually $10, so grab it asap!)

I made this project with my dad and it's seen a lot of use at my local club but hasn't been a very popular product in terms of sales. I'd love for it to get a bit more use out in the wild so enjoy this download link.

It's got all sorts of bits and pieces to make tabletop gaming easier, especially for big games where you need to track a lot of things at the same time. I took notes over a couple of months of what I had trouble keeping track of on the tabletop or everytime someone would say "this dice is here to remind us to do *this*...". Which led to the creation of all the weird icons we designed.

The dice tray is a result of how I'd organise my dice on the table by stacking them in groups of five to make them easy to count. Dad and I spent a lot of time getting the tolerance just right so the dice could be easily removed but also secure enough to be moved around the table. We both find that design process really fun.

The dice pools were made because a lot of the games I play required "spending dice" so the pool kept track of dice I had yet to spend. While not their intended purpose, I use the dice pools now to hold little objects like screws or model bits because the round and tapered inside makes them easy to grab.

Everything was made in Google SketchUp :)

Anyway, I hope you enjoy it!

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