Popular shareware proggies like "Xara3D". Don't think they'd qualify as modeling software. They had basic rotate/translate/scale transform routines in them plus glitzy effects.
(Note "shareware" usually meant cracked as far as youthful hobbyist website building from basements and bedrooms was concerned.)
There were some people who made 3D animated gifs of diverse subjects for a living (e.g. The Animation Factory). I am sure they used real 3D modelling, animation and rendering software for that.