Midwest products 47' Coast Guard motor lifeboat

Radio Control Boat Modeler, Feb 2003 by Pearsall, Bob

BOAT REPORT

In May 1997, Textron's new 47-foot, motorized lifeboats were delivered to the National Motor Lifeboat School. The new boats are quite an improvement over the venerable 44-footers they replaced; they can reach speeds of 25 knots, and the enclosed pilothouse offers increased protection for the crew. Two 435hp Detroit Diesels supply power, and the boat has a range of around 200 nautical miles. According to Textron, the new boat can operate in hurricane-force winds and 20-foot breaking seas. It can also flip end over end into an oncoming swell and self-right in less than 30 seconds.

On a warm October day, my son Tyler and I brought home the Midwest Products Co. kit of the 47" Coast Guard Motor Lifeboat. With great anticipation, we scurried upstairs to our attic workshop and opened the box.

THE KIT

When we looked inside the box, we discovered bag upon bag of neatly packaged fittings (more than four dozen of them), motors and what looked to us like our very own private forest of basswood. Tyler was really impressed with the micro-cut wood parts and the two huge sheets of decals, while I was totally engrossed in the 66-page construction manual. The hull follows Midwest's proven Success Series construction techniques. It's self-aligning and is planked with basswood sheet, then fiberglassed for strength. The package of running hardware is very complete and includes shafts, stuffing tubes, props and shaft couplers. Also included are decals, flags, nonskid deck tread, brass for the railing and a lot more.

CONSTRUCTION

I set up a temporary building board and started building the hull. I was surprised at how quickly it went together. In just a few days, I had the bottom planking ready to be installed. The instructions tell you to install the bottom sheeting by cutting notches in the boat's bottom at the frames. The idea is to sand the bottom planks down to the frame sides to create the sheerline. More experienced modelers could probably handle this, but I decided to install four pieces (two on each side) of 1/8 x 1/4-inch spruce strips at the edge where the bottom of the boat meets the sides. I cut slots on the bottom and sides of each frame and glued the spruce into place. This produces a perfect sheerline for the boat and increases the attachment points for the sheeting. If I hadn't done this, the sheerline might have rippled. I repeated this technique using 1/8 x 1/8-inch spruce strips for the forward section of the raised bow.

Construction continued at a rapid pace, and I proceeded to plank the hull without difficulty. If you have any concerns about butting two bottom or side planks together, back up the joint with a short length of bass sheeting, and then install the planks. Any slightly misaligned planks can be faired in with filler. When I had completed the bottom and side planking, I cut the hull from the jig. I recommend adding 1-inch foam blocks between the upper forward frames for flotation, deck and railing support. If you don't, the deck planks may warp. Don't forget to paint the bow section of the boat that you won't be able to reach when the deck is installed.

Just about this time in the project, it started to rain very heavily, and I learned a few things about basswood sheets. They soak up moisture from the air and warp easily; I had to replace the warped wood before I could continue. Another aspect of basswood to be aware of in wet climates is that the wood will get fuzzy from all the moisture in the air. I found this out a few days after I had finish-sanded the hull for the application of the glass cloth. The wood was all fuzzy, and I had to re-sand the hull to get it smooth.

FIBERGLASSING THE HULL THE HULL

To glass the hull, I used West System Epoxy and the included Midwest Micro-Glas cloth. I've had lots of experience building fullscale boats using polyester boat resin, and I was looking forward to using an odorless, epoxy-based system. To mix and apply the epoxy, I used a set of mini pumps, a quart of no. 105 epoxy resin, a pint of no. 206 Slow Hardener (25 to 30 minutes pot life), 1-inch throwaway bristle brushes and an assortment of spreaders, rubber gloves and small mixing cups. Please be sure to read all of the instructions and warnings that come with the epoxy resin. When I applied the cloth to the hull, I deviated from the suggested sequence. The instructions tell you to cover the bottom, sides and transom of the boat with one piece of cloth, and I felt that it was too much epoxy to deal with in one batch. I opted to cover the hull in three pieces using the following sequence: right bottom/right side; left bottom/left side; and the transom. I gave myself 1 inch of excess cloth on all dimensions. I used masking tape to plug the ends of the prop stuffing boxes and rudder tubes.

The mini pumps for the epoxy deliver the proper amount of resin and hardener for each batch that you mix. Once you have the correct amount of resin and hardener, mix it thoroughly (Popsicle sticks work great). With the cloth in place on the hull, float on a coat of epoxy using a bristle brush, and work the resin through the cloth until the wood and the cloth are thoroughly saturated. Use a spreader to smooth out any areas of excess epoxy. I used scissors to make a relief cut in the cloth where the transom and the bottom of the boat meet. I also made relief cuts in the cloth at the bow to allow it to lie flat.