1965 shu shu

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dave weagel

Well-Known Member
Joined
Apr 8, 2006
Messages
732
i'm building a gas powered semi-scale 1965 SHU SHU, ( former '62 notre dame ), with the Zippkits dropped sponson Rockett kit.

i'm looking for more pics and info about this boat while shirley macdonald owned it. specifically, race history and the replacement mahogany decks.

it was sold to bernie little and became the 1967 bud and later raced under several other names. the hull survives today as the restored '67 bud in the seattle hydo museum.

i have the newton no. 106B paint sheet and the Crimmin photos but would like to find more pics and contact any former crew members.

thank you,

dave w.
 
dave weagel said:
i'm building a gas powered semi-scale 1965 SHU SHU, ( former '62 notre dame ), with the Zippkits dropped sponson Rockett kit.
i'm looking for more pics and info about this boat while shirley macdonald owned it. specifically, race history and the replacement mahogany decks.

it was sold to bernie little and became the 1967 bud and later raced under several other names. the hull survives today as the restored '67 bud in the seattle hydo museum.

i have the newton no. 106B paint sheet and the Crimmin photos but would like to find more pics and contact any former crew members.

thank you,

dave w.
Click to expand...
No history, but a pic from Jim's T-boat registry. B) B)
 
thank you ray.

i see that you're also building a zipp rockett looking forward to seeing pics of your boat.

dave w.
 
Dave,

In 1965, driver Jim Miller failed to qualify the boat in 2 different races that it entered, the Detroit & Madison race. :(

~Bill
 
bill,

thank you for the shu shu race history. i have the Crimmin photos of the boat at the '65 madison race. i'd like to find pics

of the boat at the detroit race. i sent an inquiry to Unlimiteds Detroit hoping to contact a former crew member. according

fred farley, the shu shu had a non-paid volunteer crew from the detroit area while the notre dame boats had paid crews

from seattle area. evidently the shu shu was based here in detroit and the ND's were seattle based. don't know where the

detroit shop was. maybe shirley rented space in the gale shop ?

i'm currently waiting for copy of the jan / feb issue of Unlimited News Journal which has a feature article on the shu shu.

wonder if driver jim miller is still around ?

dave
 
Dave,

I am sure Jerry Schoenith (www.mydetroitstory.com) could provide you more insight on the boat, the shop & if space from the Gale camp was used?

The 1965 Detroit program doesn't list the boat at all, but not surprised, since it was not raced before the Detroit race that was held on August 29 & toward the end of the season.

Another person from Unlimiteds Detroit that probably has some insight on Shu Shu: Stephen Garey, P.O. Box 24764, Detroit, MI 48224-0764.

Just curious......out of all Unlimited Hydroplanes, what peaked your interest for the Shu Shu?

Please post photos of your Zenoah Zippkit when completed, my '65 Gales Roostertail should be completed in about 2-3 weeks!

~Bill
 
bill,

thank you for the info. i will contact jerry schoenith as you suggest. i'm just speculating about shirley macdonald possibly using the gale shop when her boats were in detroit. i've been unable to find out if she had her own facility here.

mr. schoenith undoubtedly would know all about shirley macdonald's activity here in detroit.

from what i've been able to dig up about the notre dame boats, 1962 - 1972 , they were primarily based and crewed in seattle. fred farley's answer to questions about the shu shu caught my attention regarding the volunteer detroit crew, etc. i surmised that maybe she kept the boat here in detroit and just tried it in 2 midwest races, madison and detroit.

re steve garey, i think i talked to him a couple of years ago regarding the 1969 ND Karelsen replica hull. never really had chance to discuss everything. i will contact him again. i see that the DRRA has mentioned a possible exhibition run of a Vernors Karelsen replica. i had no idea that project was ever started and don't know status on the '69 ND hull.

are you getting that new Feecraft Gale Roostertail U-44 that was posted on JRCBD.COM recently ? what a beautiful hull. IMO, len feeback's gas t-boats are true gas scales.

as to why the shu shu ? because the ND boats have always been my favorite round nose unlimiteds. the prettiest, imo, was the '62 staudacher dropped sponson hull. later i discovered that the '67 bud was in fact the former ND / SHU SHU. after seeing the restored '67 bud here in detroit in 2003 with that beautiful mahogany deck i was hooked. then last year i learned of the Crimmin photo collection and bought all of the shu shu pics available and searched for all info and history.

the combination of the ND light blue and that mahogany deck seemed perfect. the basic question i have is : were those distinctive caulk lines as seen on the '67 bud visible on the shu shu deck ? newton shows them on his dwg but my hi-resolution Crimmin photos show no caulk lines. i assume that when the hull had the new mahogany decks installed the varnish stained the caulk lines same color as the planking. evidently bernie little had the deck sanded and cleared when the bud paint job was applied. period photos of the '67 bud do show those lines and the restored hull is same.

good luck with that gale.

dave
 
Dave,

Yes, the preliminary photos of the Gale's Roostertail posted on JRCBD is my hydro.....I will post photos when completed!

I also used Ned's high-resolution photos for the colors & decals of the '65 Roostertail - they were definitely the most accurate, your synopsis of Shu Shu is probably correct. Being a prior owner of mahogany boats, over time, the varnish will "orange or yellow" due to sunlight and the caulk lines will not remain white.....especially the varnish used in the 1960's! However, I am surprised Ned's photos show No caulk lines what so ever?

Ned's photos & Roger's paint/decal scheme should validate and reflect the real story behind the Shu.....

~Bill
 
bill,

i'm glad that feecraft gale is your boat. a beauty like that needs to be here in detroit area. will you be coming to the gm tech center race in august with it ? that's where i run my boats when i have time. been so busy lately, haven't even run a boat yet this season. i don't race, just a play boater.

you're familiar with the Crimmin photos so yo know how good they are.

of the 8 crimmin photos of the shu shu i have , only 2 really show the boat close enough to easily see that no caulk lines are visible. yes, they were probably very evident if looking at the boat in person at that time, 1965 madison race pits, but the lines are not there. the edges of the planking are clearly seen but not the contrasting caulk lines.

my infomation from fred farley and hydro museum re the history of the '67 bud explains that the boat burned during testing sometime in 1963. shirley then had boat repaired including the new mahogany deck. this work was probably not completed until sometime in 1964 or 1965. the madison race may well have been first outing after the deck install.

i'm still waiting for my copy of the jan / feb issue of UNJ which has feature article on the shu shu and eileen crimmin. should have interesting info and maybe photos i don't have.

hope to get info from jerry schoenith and stephan garey too.

the point is that the crimmin photos of boat at '65 madison race show a freshly rebuilt hull. now i am not an expert re boat varnishes circa 1965 and how quickly the sun / water may have affected the color of the caulk lines but they are definitely not visible as white lines in contrast to the brown deck. my hunch is that the original varnish, or whatever coating used , basically "stained" the caulk lines and the planking the same color.

period photos of the '67 bud taken from further distances clearly show those caulk lines much like the boat looks today.

i realize that this a seemingly trivial detail but those lines make a big difference in the appearance of the deck. it's that beautifully clean mahogany deck , blue cowling, white fin and simple graphics which make the boat so attractive to me.

i asked roger newton about this when i received the shu shu dwg and he said the caulk lines were there as drawn. obviously the decks were instaled with caulked planking but the question is " did they actually appear as white lines " ?

the point is moot now, as far as i'm concerned , because i've decided that i'm not putting the lines on. too much clutter which spoils the appearance imo. besides, i'd probably mess it up anyway.

send me your email address and i'll send crimmin pics if you're interested. they will be lo-resolution but good enough. as you know, the pics on the CD have almost perfect clearity.

thank you,

dave
 
Dave,

Looking forward in seeing the photos - here is my email address;

[email protected]

FYI - The boat ran in Detroit before Madison in 1965.....Detroit was Shu's first race attempt!

Thanks!

~Bill
 
bill,

pics sent. thanks for the race dates info. i would like to find pics of boat at the detroit race.

dave
 
thank you mart. beautiful build. i've been following your progress on the dock. your rockett seems to be running well.

as you've read, i'm trying to finish a semi-scale model of a real unlimited , the '65 shu shu , with my rockett kit.

nothing very detailed just want it to look reasonably close. the deck appearance is a big factor to me.

will post pics when finished.

dave
 
dave weagel said:
thank you mart. beautiful build. i've been following your progress on the dock. your rockett seems to be running well.
as you've read, i'm trying to finish a semi-scale model of a real unlimited , the '65 shu shu , with my rockett kit.

nothing very detailed just want it to look reasonably close. the deck appearance is a big factor to me.

will post pics when finished.

dave
Click to expand...
Hi Dave as you know i also thought about the natural wood look for mine but decided i just wanted to get it built and running,the next one i will def do a natural wood finnish for the deck.I found a few souces here for thin veneer,its not cheap but it will look awesome for sure.Your knowledge on these boats is way beyond mine im affraid all i know is i love the look of these boats and the first time i saw one i wanted to build one.Now i just love the way they run and the way they look on the water theyre absoluteley stunning and so realistic.Im sure yours will look awesome when shes done,cant wait to see some pics of her ;) .I might start another one over the autum winter months just for something to do on those dark nights ,if i could only run one boat ever again in my life it would be one of these thunderboats for sure nothing else even comes close .Good luck with your build keep us posted on your progress mate :) .

Mart
 
mart,

to clarify, i ended up painting my deck brown. tried staining the kit deck but botched it. then glued on 1/32 birch ply as a sort of veneer and messed that up too.

then primed and painted the hull white and light blue to make the '62 notre dame. had the graphics for both the nd and the shu shu and thought about it for a week before dciding on the shu.

so, on went the brown paint to simulate the mahogany deck. at that point it was either leave it as is, strip it and repaint or run it thru the band saw..................

stared at it for another week and put the shu graphics on it.

sure wish i had the woodworking skills to build a clear decked boat but ran out of energy. one thing i'd do differently if building another zipp rd nose would be to use 1/16 birch ply for the decking instead of the 1/8 lite ply.

in hindsight the best option would have been to opt for real mahogany veneer over the lite ply decks for a much more realistic model of the shu. no big deal, it's not a true scale model. just a stand way off and squint scale.

hull now getting cleared then put it back together and run it.

btw.......no simulated caulk lines on the deck either.

dave
 
dave weagel said:
mart,
to clarify, i ended up painting my deck brown. tried staining the kit deck but botched it. then glued on 1/32 birch ply as a sort of veneer and messed that up too.

then primed and painted the hull white and light blue to make the '62 notre dame. had the graphics for both the nd and the shu shu and thought about it for a week before dciding on the shu.

so, on went the brown paint to simulate the mahogany deck. at that point it was either leave it as is, strip it and repaint or run it thru the band saw..................

stared at it for another week and put the shu graphics on it.

sure wish i had the woodworking skills to build a clear decked boat but ran out of energy. one thing i'd do differently if building another zipp rd nose would be to use 1/16 birch ply for the decking instead of the 1/8 lite ply.

in hindsight the best option would have been to opt for real mahogany veneer over the lite ply decks for a much more realistic model of the shu. no big deal, it's not a true scale model. just a stand way off and squint scale.

hull now getting cleared then put it back together and run it.

btw.......no simulated caulk lines on the deck either.

dave
Click to expand...


Im sure she will look real good mate dont forget to post a few pics when shes done,i agree on the deck the lite poplar ply is too soft id have gone with lite ply too,the next one ill either do so or use some thin glass cloth over it to stiffen it .The veneer is def the way to go ,pitty its so expensive,easiest way to use it is to cut into strips to simulate the planking and glue it on ,you can get some nice patterns done this way too for a diff look.Look forward to seeing how she turns out mate.

Mart
 
mart,

i meant that i'd use 1/16 aircraft birch ply for the decks insead of the 1/8 "lite ply" supplied in the kit. just a personal preference. the "lite ply" is too soft in my opinion. but joe petro had good reasons to use it. the zipp hydro kits are best value available for a gas round nose. joe invested major design and engineering efforts in bringing these kits to the gas boat market.

i may try another build next winter now that i've built the first one.

yes, veneer works well. i've used it on 2 other boats to create a mahogany deck. it's available here in detroit area at a specialty lumbar yard but i was too cheap and lazy to go get it. not cheap but being paper thin it's fairly easy to use. i used it sheet form to cover the 1/16 birch ply deck. not enough patience to cut it into strips to simiulate planking. i think most of the real boats had marine sheet ply decks but some, like the shu , had planked decks.

obviously, the real wood working craftsmen would probably use mahogany ply for the decking and build it without a blemish. we've seen some real masterpieces shown here on IW and on JRCBD.

i'll post pics if i ever have time to finish this project. very busy time with family now.

dave
 
dave weagel said:
mart,
i meant that i'd use 1/16 aircraft birch ply for the decks insead of the 1/8 "lite ply" supplied in the kit. just a personal preference. the "lite ply" is too soft in my opinion. but joe petro had good reasons to use it. the zipp hydro kits are best value available for a gas round nose. joe invested major design and engineering efforts in bringing these kits to the gas boat market.

i may try another build next winter now that i've built the first one.

yes, veneer works well. i've used it on 2 other boats to create a mahogany deck. it's available here in detroit area at a specialty lumbar yard but i was too cheap and lazy to go get it. not cheap but being paper thin it's fairly easy to use. i used it sheet form to cover the 1/16 birch ply deck. not enough patience to cut it into strips to simiulate planking. i think most of the real boats had marine sheet ply decks but some, like the shu , had planked decks.

obviously, the real wood working craftsmen would probably use mahogany ply for the decking and build it without a blemish. we've seen some real masterpieces shown here on IW and on JRCBD.

i'll post pics if i ever have time to finish this project. very busy time with family now.

dave
Click to expand...
Yes i knew what you meant and i agree with you,i will build the next one using plank strips over the deck sheets to simulate planks .Im not saying im a master craftsman but hey i can build with the best of them hope that doesnt sound like bragging but i should be able to as it was my job for a number of years (boat builder).Ill post a cpl of pics later i was shown by a dutch guy who has built a scale version of the redman from the rockett kit,it looks absoluteley stunning.

Mart

ps yes Joe has done a wonderfull job with this kit,and deserves real credit because for the money it has to be the one of the best running roundnose hydros available and is very affordable for sure.
 

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