Why Modelbee

Full-service model making and prototyping

Modelbee connects the people who need something physically made with the shops that actually make it. That means scale models and architectural models, appearance models, functional and engineering prototypes, jigs and fixtures, one-off custom fabrication, and short production runs — the hands-on, judgement-heavy work that automated instant-quote tools were never built to price.

Who it's for

• Industrial and product designers who need an appearance model or a working prototype before committing to tooling.
• Design, architecture and engineering students working against a deadline and a tight budget.
• Inventors taking an idea from a sketch or a CAD file to a first physical part.
• Startups and product teams who need a short run, a pilot batch, or a booth model before launch.

How a project runs

You post a brief — what you're making, the stage you're at, materials and processes if you know them, plus reference images and 3D files. Modelbee ranks the shops whose capabilities genuinely fit: the processes they run, the materials they handle, the batch sizes they take and where they are. Vetted makers bid with a price and a lead time, you compare them side by side, and you talk to the one you pick right here.

Your drawings stay yours

CAD files are the part of a project people are most reluctant to hand around, so they're locked by default. Makers browsing your project see the brief and reference images — never the 3D files. Those unlock only for the maker whose bid you accept, and that rule is enforced by the database itself, not just hidden in the interface.

Working across the language barrier

A lot of the world's best model making and short-run capacity is in China, and a lot of the design work is not. Modelbee runs fully in English and 中文 so a brief written in one is read in the other, and neither side has to work through a translator to agree on a tolerance.