loading .fbx

Hello there,
So im working on this react app that uses 3d objects (using R3F).
So i loaded a 3d object (fbx) and the app worked fine, after building and deploying (offline locally, and online), the fbx directory would be non existent (asset not loaded “404 – not found”). Whereas the app in VSCode works like a charm.

Location of my model is in ‘~reactpress/apps/test-app/public/model.fbx’

And code implementation:

//loads from public directly
const fbx = useLoader(FBXLoader, './port.fbx');

Any idea as to why this is not functioning locally on wplocal or online?
ps: i did add fbx MIME type ‘application/octet-stream’