 The inspiration for the company reportedly came from a 3D printer that Erick, also a garage mechanic, bought just before Christmas 2011.After encountering difficulty with his goal of getting the printer to print replacement parts for itself, he spent several days working on the printer before determining that it wasn't able to complete the task.The printer was eventually scrapped for parts, and Erick instead began building his own printer, which was named the Airwolf 3D.