Why is it relevant what he does for a living? It's his passion and hobby that is interesting.
I'd say the point is "An Ordinary Guy did X". Vs. an engineering genius, or somebody with deep pockets, or a Hollywood special effects model builder, or 3D printer junkie, or whatever.
That he had to get extremely focused on the task, and devote years to it, is pretty well spelled out in the article's title.