How it started: building a niche marketplace for models of 3d printable planes

In 2020, I was working on my language school business when I learned of a new hobby project that my brother started: he was designing 3D models of printable FPV planes and flying them. He is an experienced engineer working in the airline industry so I wasn't surprised when he found his hobby of 3D printing planes.

After building his first 3D model my brother decided to share his work with other aircraft enthusiasts, so he listed his model on a few marketplaces including Cults. Perhaps the plane printing niche was very small and wasn't worth the attention of decent-sized marketplaces like Cults, so his work was getting lost among countless toy designs and decorations. I like the idea of starting in a narrow niche and expanding later so I've seen it as an opportunity to build a great product that will help designers like my brother. That's how I started building Altimeter3D, https://altimeter3d.com/

I won't be disappointed if my product doesn't get tens of thousands of users like big marketplaces do however I see the joy of flight and crafting my own things to be a good enough motivation to bring more people into this hobby.

It took me a while to get enough spare time to start this project, let's see where the journey takes us.