10/14/2026
Homestead Class Updates
-Digital 3D printable kit available 10/24/26 on Modelwerks website. 1/1000 and 1/650 Scale.
The inspiration for the Homestead Class comes from one of my favorite classic science fiction spacecraft, the Valley Forge from the 1972 film Silent Running. For those unfamiliar with the movie, the Valley Forge was one of several enormous spacecraft carrying Earth’s last surviving forests inside massive geodesic domes. I’ve always loved the design and the idea of a ship dedicated not to exploration or warfare, but to preserving life. It seemed like a perfect concept to reinterpret within the Star Trek universe, especially during the often-overlooked Lost Era.
The Valley Forge also has an interesting history beyond Silent Running. The original filming miniatures were later repurposed for the original 1978 Battlestar Galactica television series, appearing as agricultural ships within the ragtag Colonial Fleet. Decades later, the design received another nod when a digitally recreated version of the iconic domed vessel appeared among the civilian ships in the reimagined Battlestar Galactica series of the 2000s. It’s a great example of a classic science fiction design finding new life across generations of storytelling.
With the Homestead Class, I wanted to pay tribute to that legacy while giving the concept a distinctly Federation identity. I combined the recognizable geodesic habitat domes and long structural spine of the Valley Forge with the saucer, warp nacelles, and design language of the Star Trek movie era. The result is my interpretation of what a Starfleet ecological ark might look like—a vessel that carries entire ecosystems across the stars, helping bring life to new worlds while honoring one of science fiction’s most memorable spacecraft designs.
———Updates to design———-
The pods have been updated by adding airlock ports and thrusters.
The shuttlebays are fully detailed and I’ve created larger cargo style shuttlecraft. Imagine a shuttle that could ferry cattle or horses to a planet.
I took advice commentor Rush Monty and added a docking mechanism in the neck so the Saucer can easily detach from the spine. It’s a great idea and I really like how it turned out. There is detailing that needs to be finished on the neck connectors.
A large rear impulse engine has been added so that when the saucer detaches, the rest of the cruiser can still travel at sublight. Additional, optional rear warp nacelles have been added to the kit as well.
———Before commenting please read the following list of pre-answered comments.————
Comment: “This looks like the ship from Silent Running.”
Response: “Yes, Correct. The Valley Forge is the inspiration for this vessel. There’s will be a USS Valley Forge on the decal sheet”
Comment: “This looks like the botanical ship from BSG.”
Response: “Correct, Sorta. The Valley Forge studio model from Silent Running was also used in original BSG, then subsequently recreated in CG as the botanical ship in 2003”
Comment: “There’s not enough sun in space to support a greenhouse.”
Response: “Correct. But that doesn’t mean a starship in the 23rd century doesn’t have the ability to use UV lighting. Also, this is not a generational ship. it’s designed to ferry plants and animals to newly terraformed planets for colonization. They would be in space a few months at most.”
Comment: “The warp nacelles could not stabilize a warp field on a ship that long.”
Response: “Sure, maybe. It’s all fiction. The Ptolemy Tug has a similar lopsided design and that seems to be acceptable. The digital kit will have an optional second pair of nacelles for those interested.”
Comment: “This makes no sense, why not store patterns in a transporter buffer”
Response: “The concept of storing patterns in the buffer is overused in new trek. Back in DS9 times it took the whole station computer core to store the patterns of a few crew. imagine doing this on a large scale. It would require several massive space station sized floating data centers. Which A. Doesn’t make sense. And B. would be boring as hell to design.”
