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I was out with friends last night and we went into a sci-fi bar where they have props and models all over the place. We had fun identifying all the ships, costumes and stuff, but one model had us stumped, and the person behind the bar wouldn't tell us, saying we'd have to find out by other means, and there would be a free drink in it for us if we could - apparently only one person has ever correctly guessed it in two years.

Unfortunately my mad Googling ran the battery down on my phone so I couldn't get a photo, but I quickly whipped this fairly close approximation of it on my iPad when I got home. I think the curved end is the front and I'm fairly certain it's not: a Cylon vessel, Dengar's ship, anything from Independence Day, Dune or StarGate, not Space 1999 or UFO, not any of the Aliens or Star Wars films, or Manta Force.

Drawing of the ship in question

I have found a photo of it online (someone asking the exact same question over 6 years ago - never got an answer). As you can see it's a lot more "blocky" than some of the other answers, which are close, but sadly not right...

Image of the actual ship on the ceiling

Looking on the virtual tour for the Manchester bar we can see a few other low quality images of the ship.

Side view of the ship Side view of the other side of the ship Front view of the ship

TheLethalCarrot
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Paul Childs
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    The Protector from Galaxy Quest is somewhat similar but it has part of the middle bit protruding out the front. – TheLethalCarrot Sep 18 '19 at 09:13
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    Were any hints given as to what it could be? I.e. was it from a TV show or movie? Any hints on the year it would be from? etc. – TheLethalCarrot Sep 18 '19 at 09:25
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    The barmaid would give no clues at all - said it was more than her job's worth as there was a round of drinks in it!

    From the look of it, I think it was from a late 70s or early 80s film or show but I could be wrong. I just got that vibe from it. It had a very hand made feel about it with bits from model kits glues all over it to create detail - much like how they used to do the miniatures on Doctor Who or the original Star Wars films. The thing is like 4 feet across, I think it might actually have been a shooting model.

     – Paul Childs Sep 18 '19 at 09:29
  • Is there a chance it's not actually complete but only part of something? – TheLethalCarrot Sep 18 '19 at 15:25
  • @TheLethalCarrot - my thought is that the back appears complete but that the front could connect to something that sticks out. – Valorum Sep 18 '19 at 16:17
  • I checked out ships from the Gamma quadrant in DS9 and I think we can rule those out. The Farscape fandom wiki has lots of ships listed and pictured but none like that. Were there any ships from video games, as far as you know? Just wondering if that’s a possible source. Like Wing Commander or something. – Todd Wilcox Sep 18 '19 at 17:03
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    From the looks of it, my guess would be low budget 80s scifi. – Keith Morrison Sep 18 '19 at 17:18
  • "Found this on a website about the Fab Cafe in Manchester: "There is a space ship above you as you walk in that is a bit of a mystery and if you can guess which TV series it was in you get a free round of drinks!" " - reddit - So prob 70s/80s *UK* TV series. - What else is there besides Dr. Who and Tripods? – Mazura Sep 19 '19 at 05:51
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    Google image search using the photograph just suggests "Ceiling" and shows other ceilings I may be interested in :( – Brian Sep 19 '19 at 08:54
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    @Mazura Red Dwarf, Blakes Seven, Thunderbirds, Quatermass, The Tomorrow People, UFO, Space 1999, Star Cops, Terrahawks... I can go on – Moo Sep 19 '19 at 09:40
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    Yep, that's the place @Mazura - I was keeping the location quiet in case anyone claimed the free round ahead of me :p – Paul Childs Sep 19 '19 at 11:33
  • Can you take some pictures from different angles? That would hopefully allow Google to bring back some other results other than 'ceiling' . Amazing that is the only picture from that that pub on the internet. – alemus Sep 20 '19 at 18:49
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    Of course its possible that it was just a model someone made, has never been on TV or film, and the round of drinks is impossible to get. – Paul Johnson Sep 21 '19 at 18:07
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    Is it definitely a spaceship? It looks like it could be a building (mounted upside-down on the ceiling) from a prison planet or industrial colony or military base. – Gaultheria Sep 21 '19 at 22:36
  • @alemus - There are other pictures. This is merely the highest resolution. – Valorum Sep 21 '19 at 23:39
  • I wouldn't be surprised if it's from a Gerry Anderson production. That'd tie in with the name of the cafe. https://www.gerryanderson.co.uk/question/what-does-fab-stand-for/ OTOH, a Google image search doesn't turn up a match, so I guess the name's a red herring. – PM 2Ring Sep 22 '19 at 17:53
  • I wonder if it's a smoke alarm (or some other sort of danger sensor) in disguise. It appears to be connected to the room's fire sprinkler system. – Gaultheria Sep 24 '19 at 06:05
  • assuming they have hung it to show the side with the most detail we might actually be looking at it the wring way up... i wonder if it would help if we flipped the image 180 degrees? – skyjack Sep 24 '19 at 06:18
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    For those wanting to see the ship from more angles, that pub does a virtual tour. The lighting isn't great, but you can see the model from multiple angles. Go to http://www.fabcafe.co.uk/ and click on the virtual tour for Manchester – K Mo Sep 24 '19 at 17:10
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    I tried finding similar looks here on this 'poster' https://www.deviantart.com/dirkloechel/art/Size-Comparison-Science-Fiction-Spaceships-398790051, but unable to find anything. My initial though was something Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy, Red Dwarf or Farscape. Though still unable to find anything. (Feel bad for the Cafe though, once this is answered they are gonna be hurting :P ) – John Grabanski Sep 24 '19 at 19:07
  • @Brian A Google image search of the reddit image tell me "maritime museum." – TheAsh Sep 26 '19 at 20:58
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    I am now reading all Yelp reviews on this cafe in the hope someone left the answer there. – TheAsh Sep 26 '19 at 21:03
  • the middle bit looks like a face or a skull. Thundercats or Skeletor from He man? Dunno. Probably from cartoon and not live action show. – jo1storm Sep 27 '19 at 10:57
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    Now that we can see how it’s mounted, I also believe this is an/the original production model. That would suggest it is from a live action production and that the show was made in the UK. I also agree now that it’s not clear which is the front and which is the back. I hope it’s not from some obscure Doctor Who episode - that might be hard to track down. – Todd Wilcox Sep 27 '19 at 15:12
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    I’m sad that offering a bounty didn’t magically get us an answer. Seems like we’ve had a lot of eyeballs here and no one knows it. – Todd Wilcox Sep 30 '19 at 15:33
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    I'm going to guess its after 1960's (due to coloring and shape) and before 2000's given that props stopped being used in place of cgi around this time. Checked into past events that might have included this as theatrical prop at the location with no success. Also, compared it visually to 500 of the most popular with no luck here: https://sparksradio.com/2017/09/every-spaceship/ Finally, I cropped the imaged and ran searches on bing, google and TinEye with no similar results. At this point you would have to binge watch sci fi series during that time period to find it I think. – littlecoder Oct 14 '19 at 16:04
  • The old 1978 show Project U.F.O. supposedly went through tons of spaceship models, but I can't a way to see what any of them were. – Harabeck Oct 18 '19 at 23:19
  • There is also a StarWars spaceship called Ebon Hawk that has some resemblance so could it be a variation of that? Idk cause I haven't watched all starwars products (cartoon,videogames) but maybe someone has. – RigaCrypto Nov 11 '19 at 06:56
  • I don't think its star wars, the coloring and shape isn't consistent with any culture or species I'm familiar with (but then I'm assuming this was not a beta model). – littlecoder Nov 15 '19 at 14:44
  • Contacted the owners, as it is an ongoing 'event' they wouldn't provide any hints at all. – littlecoder Dec 11 '19 at 16:12
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    Interestingly, it's been at both of their locations, or possibly two halves of a single circular ship. Either way, it's not clear which side is up and which side is down; https://i.stack.imgur.com/zN7cT.jpg – Valorum Jan 04 '20 at 00:25
  • Arewe sure it's a TV- or movie prop? Could it have been featured in a space-based RPG, like Traveller for instance? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Traveller_(role-playing_game) – steenbergh Jan 30 '20 at 10:59
  • On this site https://www.reddit.com/r/spaceships/comments/1gwjap/can_anyone_tell_me_what_this_spaceship_model_is/caprjaq/?context=8&depth=9 a comment thread indicates the model was specifically made for the Cafe. If true, would indicate Paul Johnson's comment on 21 Sept 2019 was an accurate guess. – Edgewood Jan 31 '20 at 04:07

2 Answers2

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TL;DR It was made specifically for the Fab Cafe in Manchester.

A Google image search provided this link to reddit which someone had also inquired about the model. Two peoples' responses make these claims:

Person 1: 6 years ago

SOLVED: This model was specifically made for Fab Cafe and has been on exhibit since opening day. Source: Friend of one of the owners. I tried emailing the cafe, but got no reply. Posted the image in a Facebook forum of special effects artists, and voila!

Person 2: 6 years ago

This is correct. Source: Used to work there.

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Could it be a D'Kora class Ferengi ship, from Star Trek?

D'Kora class Ferengi ship graphic

TheLethalCarrot
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