[MOC] The Devil Lady - new ship for the redcoats

[Dreamweb]

EDIT: Now showing pictures of the revamped version of the ship from 2022. Scroll down to see an old photo for comparison.

While for some time I had been working on another vessel, I decided to take a break from that task and build this instead. It was a much shorter build than the other one I'm working on, but I'm quite satisfied with the outcome. Without further introduction, there she be: The Devil Lady.

I built her for the new type of redcoat soldiers that were introduced with the 2009 Pirate wave. But I used the old type of hull, with 5 middle sections but no stern section - just to see how that would turn out. She has no custom parts apart from just one - the topmost sail on the main mast is an old Black Seas Barracuda sail which was a bit torn at the edges by its previous owner, so I trimmed it a bit to make a smaller sail which nicely fits the original BSB sails. Everything else, including the anchor rope, is 100% official LEGO pieces.

If I remember correctly, this is my first ever custom ship with no stern section. I just wanted to try something different, and the result can be seen above.

The ship uses a combination of old brown for the hull and the ratlines, and new brown for the masts and other brown parts. I was afraid the two colours would clash, but IMO they don't. Certainly they mix better than old grey and new bley, which don't look good together at all, but I digress.

The figurehead, which obviously gives the ship its devilish name. The ship has some additional statues at the stern as well. There will be more close-ups of those in other pictures.

The gun deck and the main deck. Notice the reddish brown crates and masts vs the old brown floor. Here you can also see the anchor mechanism which is pretty standard, and the hatch which the soldiers use to get downstairs to the lower deck.

Notice the ship's bell and the door to the captain's cabin.

With eight cannons, these guys will have no problems fighting ships like the BSB, or the Brick Bounty. Also, notice the statues I mentioned before. They are placed symmetrically on both sides of the sterncastle,

Another view of the stern.

The captain's cabin isn't that big, but there's enough room for a bed and a desk.

And here's one picture of the old version of the ship:

Aaaand... that's it. The lenghty tour of the new vessel ends here. I hope you enjoyed it and thanks to everyone who actually took the time to read all of this. Comments are of course welcome, so please let me know what your thoughts are!

[Cousarmy0001]

At first glace I wasn't really impressed with this build, but I kept looking, and my opinion changed considerably. I think the doors on the lower portion of the sterncastle are an interesting idea, and I love a lot of your small brick-built details. The statues and snakes on the sterncastle are a cool idea, I love how you used 1x3 doors on the stern, and the lines you have running along the hull to hang your gun ports off of do a lot to add a visual appeal to the sides. The alternating 1x4 bricks and 2x2 reverse slopes under the gunports add visual appeal as well. I also love that you have a hatch (I don't know the period term) on the bow leading below-decks, and you use the natural step of the bow to form steps for the crew. I'm probably going to borrow that idea in the future, if you don't mind...

Furthermore, every time I design a ship, I try to add appeal to the sides by using different colors (I usually have a black and white design, but I add a blue stripe to the top of the white, and above that I'll put a colorful chequerboard pattern like Maive Auslebrook has. You've managed to have plenty of detail and appeal using just one color throughout. I'm highly impressed.

I think the best Idea you had in this, though, was not using a regular stern piece. Every time I design a ship, the biggest problem I face is shoehorning a decent captain's cabin into the tapering stern piece. It's a very limiting feature. It never occurred to me to just not use one. I would have been concerned that the stern would look weird, but yours looks terrific. An excellent build all around!

[Franco Clarke]

A nice intricate ship, it looks very fancy with all the details! With that colour scheme it would be hard to forget who owns it!

[Staslegomaster]

I like your creation and that you combined a few different ideas in one set. I like some of your ideas.

It's good the pictures taken from different angles help see all the details. How will your sailors get into the crow's nests? Everything is well done. Did you see my Sunset Mirage? Please compare. Perhaps they look alike. Glad if it inspired you.

[Brick Capone]

Beautiful ship! I love how it's all red.

[Staslegomaster]

And the red zombi captain of CMF series 14 will fit well as a captain or a captive. Good luck.

[Captain Braunsfeld]

Red ship for red coats ... with a lot of red.

Looks good!

Next we'll see a blue one for the bluecoats?

[Dreamweb]

Thanks for your comments everyone! Keep them coming!

you use the natural step of the bow to form steps for the crew. I'm probably going to borrow that idea in the future, if you don't mind...

I don't mind, but the same solution was used originally in the Caribbean Clipper, so it's as old as the pirate sets themselves!

You've managed to have plenty of detail and appeal using just one color throughout. I'm highly impressed.

I tried to add other colours and did some experimenting. None of them looked particularly appealing in combination with the red (and brown). So I decided to stick to just one colour and play with the different shapes and sculptures instead to achieve some diversity,

How will your sailors get into the crow's nests? Everything is well done. Did you see my Sunset Mirage? Please compare. Perhaps they look alike

The sailors use the ratlines to get to the crow's nest. As for your ship, I had not seen it prior to building mine. I checked it out only recently and I don't see any similarity between the two (well, they're both ships, obviously ).

Next we'll see a blue one for the bluecoats?

The Spaniards got the blue one some time ago, as for the bluecoats they have the HMS Eternity. But I'll be making new ships for each faction when the time allows!

[Staslegomaster]

I like your sense of humour. It surely helps you to create...

[Captain Dee]

That has to be the reddest ship I've ever seen! I'm slowly learning to like red on ships and this would be an unmistakable vessel to encounter. I think it turned out well and the overall form is nice. You've included some good play features again and it all adds up to a fine redcoat vessel. I always thought Eternity was your best ship, and while I still prefer its conventional colors, I think I like this design better. The name is definitely fitting and she's a good addition to the fleet. Keep it up.

[Dreamweb]

I always thought Eternity was your best ship

Me too! For now... What the future brings we shall see.

The name is definitely fitting and she's a good addition to the fleet. Keep it up.

Thanks matey!

[Matteo1130]

Finally, another lego-hull moc! I mean.. I really love other brick built hull creations too, but somehow using official lego hull pieces looks more "fair" to me.

It reminds me lego could be used for building detailed models, but they're still a game!

Like a lot the bow and the way the red combines with old brown, unfortunately the windows on the stern looks a bithidden in this color scheme.

Really appreciate you didn't made the gunport too near each other (2 studs or so) to increase the gun count...

Edited February 15, 2016 by Matteo1130

[Dreamweb]

Thanks for the comment!

Really appreciate you didn't made the gunport too near each other (2 studs or so) to increase the gun count...

I don't like it when there's an overkill of cannons. I like cannons, obviously. But given the scale of ships based on the prefab hulls, you must keep the proportion in mind. Besides, you gotta save some of those precious cannons for future ships too.

[Captain Baker]

That's a Formidable looking Custom Ship you've built & it would certainly be an asset to any Pirate Lego Ship Collection.

Pretty Sweet.

[Dreamweb]

Thanks!

I've finally managed to find some spare time to finish my other projects, so you can expect more ships from me sooner rather than later, hopefully.

[iammac]

(In my arithmetic teacher voice:)

Excellent. Now one for the Bluecoats.

[Dreamweb]

Thanks.

Actually I'm planning on building something for the new bluecoats (the 2015 version). But the 2009 redcoats will also be getting at least another ship to form a small fleet along with the Devil Lady.

[azog]

I can't wait to see the blue coat ship! The fact that I already made some sloops and brigs for them, I would love to see a frigate especially because I'm having trouble making it look good

[Cousarmy0001]

Bluecoat frigates are out there, I assure you :-)

[Dreamweb]

Please keep in mind that I prefer the bluecoats myself, as you can tell by my sigfig.

I built the HMS Eternity for the old bluecoats some time ago. Not to mention other ships in the past, but those are long gone. Now I'm planning to construct something for the new version of bluecoats (which I consider to be a different faction). But the more diversity the better - I'm planning to build up the redcoat fleet too, so that the bluecoats have someone to fight. And there's the pirates, and some other factions I'm also considering.

Edited March 19, 2016 by Dreamweb

[Dreamweb]

Much like the Caribbean Flagship before, here's another old ship of mine which received an overhaul this year. I always liked the overall idea and colours of the Devil Lady, but I considered her a bit unfinished. So I decided to change it and upgrade the ship a little. First of all, I added more ratlines. Also, the bow has a new, more streamlined shape. The main deck is now made almost entirely of tiles instead of exposed studs. Some other smaller things were also changed, and I like her much more now.

The first post has been updated accordingly with new images. I left one image of the original version of the ship for comparison. Go take a look! Thanks!

Edited December 13, 2022 by Dreamweb