The next video on the Group C build is taking longer than I expected and so I probably wont have it up this weekend, so instead I'll be posting a short little video working on the Twin.
Can't wait to start turning this thing into the coolest Suzuki Twin on the internet.
Bit of a less than awesome update. There wont be a video Tomorrow as I've had a lot of my time taken up lately trying to deal with the insane amount of people stealing and reposting my content as their own.
YouTube and Instagram are the only platforms I'm active on, but some unscrupulous individuals have been stealing my videos to then make up random AI voiceovers and post these to TikTok and Facebook.
I've tried reporting, but these big companies just ignore me, and why wouldn't they? From Facebook and TikTok's perspective, I'm not a user of theirs, I'm not making them any money, but these fake accounts are. And that seems to be all that matters to them.
When people DM me and tell me that they saw my content on TikTok I always pretty much just say that if I spent the time trying to take them all down, I'd have no time left for actually working on cars. But I also know that if I let them keep getting a way with it, then it may turn into a bigger problem.
The really brutal thing is that I put so much time and effort into these videos, and I make just enough to get by with YouTube, but these accounts on Facebook will get millions of views off my videos, and some even make more off them than I do, and that's a real kick in the nuts.
And that brings us to where you guys can help me.
I'm going to something pretty radical, and look at posting my own content on Facebook and TikTok. Hopefully if I build my channels up enough, maybe that will make them actually listen to me. I know a lot of you probably don't even use Facebook anymore and if you like my videos, you probably can't stand TikTok either, but it would really help me out if you could go over there and give me a follow. Once I've got enough followers and can apply for monetization, I believe that they might actually stop just throwing all my reports in the trash and actually listen to me.
The second thing I'd like to ask for is if you do come across my content by anyone pretending to be me, hit the report button, and drop a comment so that people know who really made it. I'm insanely lucky to have honestly one of the best fan bases on the internet and a lot of you are already doing this and it really means a lot.
I love making these builds even though filming them more than doubles the time it takes, but if I'm going to keep this up I need it to be worthwhile, and I can't do that when I'm working 70 hours a week and having my only source of income at the moment be stolen from me on these other platforms.
And if you've read this far then obviously this matters to you and I really appreciate it. You guys all mean a lot to me and I wouldn't be able to do any of this without you, and so if this is something that you car about as well, you can also consider supporting me over on Patreon. Lately I've been getting a few more Patrons and so I've been posting some more regular updates and behind the scenes of the latest builds.
Time to finally pull the covers off the next build!
I've been teasing this in my videos for weeks and quite a few of you have already guessed the platform we're working on.
As usual with my builds, when picking what platform to work on I always look for a car that I believe is a little under-appreciated, and in this case we landed on the 3rd generation MR2.
The MR2 has always been a favorite car of mine, particularly the first gen AW11. Over the years and evolution the MR2 has remained an extremely capable car, but as with nearly every car, by the latest generation they started to lose favorability among fans.
Working together once again with my good friend Stan over at SCC @stanscustomcreations on Instagram, we've spent well over the past year and a half working on the design and have finally created something that we are extremely proud of and I can't wait to show it all to you in the video reveal coming out this weekend.
Thanks for sticking in there and stay tuned for the build reveal soon.
That's a wrap on the Stagea build, I'm stoked to hear how happy you all are with the end result!
On that note, with this latest video my channel has finally passed over 200,000 subscribers! You guys are the best and I wouldn't be here doing this without all the support and enthusiasm for these builds.
Over the past year I've mentioned that I'll be moving to a new workshop and now it's finally happening. The next few months are going to be pretty full on with packing everything I own into a container and shipping it overseas to start from scratch, so I'm going to have to ask you guys once again to put up with a little hiatus on the videos haha.
Absolutely would not be able to do this without you and I can't wait to start this new chapter in my life! Massive thanks again, I never expected to hit this subscriber milestone when I posted my very first video.
Really looking forward to getting set up in my new shop and getting stuck straight in to my next build which is going to be probably one of the most extreme exterior transformations on YouTube.
200,000 baby!
* (For anyone desperate to know what my next build might be, I've been hiding clues across my various social media including one in this post.)
The final episode of the GTR Stagea build will be going up this weekend at the usual time, Sunday 7:30pm NZST.
It's a long one to make up for me keeping you all waiting so get some snacks ready. If you need that sanding fix asap you can get early access and watch it right now over on Patreon.
We are also SO close to hitting 200,000 subscribers and it would be amazing to hit that milestone with the finale of this build series so if you haven't already consider subscribing!
I normally don't ever ask but frankly my OCD has been going crazy sitting in the 190's for the past 3 months, haha.
No video tonight, I've spent the past 2 weeks having my first real holiday in about 4 years and I guess the lack of sanding put my body into shock because I've been sick since I got back but I'm almost fully recovered now.
There's a quick teaser of what I'm working on for the next video, some might even call it a spoiler. I needed a bit of a change of pace so I'm taking a quick break from the Stagea to get some more work done on this Miata.
I'm trying to see if it's going to be something I can finish in one episode or two but either way I'm hard at work and aiming to have it up as soon as possible.
As we all know, it's just me here. No editors or anybody to help with the sanding or fiberglassing, so that does mean that every now and then when orders pile up it is pretty tough to keep up with the videos which is why my uploads have been a bit inconsistent.
I'm sorry about that and want everyone to know that I am still alive and working as hard as ever on my builds and these videos.
But I also want to just take this time to dive a little into the behind the scenes and some changes that I'm making to my videos. Since I don't talk in my videos these posts are really the only chance I get to have a proper 1 on 1 with you guys haha.
So we're 30 episodes in to this Stagea build now, and it feels like the past 6 months have just been sanding bodyfiller and making moulds. And I know you guys are awesome and there's nothing you want more than another 40 minute sanding compilation, but I feel like even I'm getting a little tired of the same old thing every 2 weeks. 😂
Because of that I've decided that I want to try a slight change with how often I upload and so for the next few months I'm going to be holding off a little longer between uploads so that each video covers more actual work.
The way I've been doing it until now is usually about 7 - 10 solid days work with 3 - 4 days compiling and editing the video, leaving me a couple days for my other fiberglass orders and if I'm lucky, maybe a day off. Then rinse and repeat every 2 weeks. That means only half of my time is really going into these builds and as a result, they take bloody forever.
I'm not giving up on my 2 week upload schedule for good, but I think it's important to find a good balance in life and so if I've got 3 fiberglass orders to take care of the same week I'm supposed to finish 2 moulds and make a video, it means the video probably isn't going up that week.
All that said, the next video is underway and I hope to have it up real soon. But I'm curious, if I were to add in smaller videos, less time demanding, what sort of stuff would you be interested in seeing? Various tips and tricks? Car meets? 4 hours of unedited sanding / fiberglassing? Random little side projects? Let me know.
You guys are awesome and you're support means the world to me so thank you.
Who's ready for some more cyberpunk Miata content!
Time for a break from the Stagea I reckon and so next week's video will be back to work on the Chimera! I aim to have it up at the regular time and date so set your alarms, YouTube has been doing a trash job sharing my videos with my subscribers lately so don't miss it.
I also like to use these posts for a little behind the scenes since I don't really get a chance to talk otherwise.
So this year the goal with my videos is to try and balance my workload a bit better to hopefully not burn out. To do that I've decided to limit myself to strictly 7 days of solid work per episode, excluding editing. I quite often end up doing way more than this which usually leaves me with over 500GB of footage to edit and it can take days to get through it all. Hopefully cutting back will give me at least a couple days off every 2 weeks.
My other reason for wanting to do this is I'm trying to build up a bit of a buffer so I'm not constantly under pressure to get a video up. I've got some really big plans coming the end of the year that will require me to be out of the country for a couple months and I don't want to leave you with no videos, so I have to start working towards that now.
This will just be a quick detour with the Chimera as I just want to do a few small pieces around the front and then I'll get back to the Stagea and maybe even sprinkle in a few one-off episodes on some other odd jobs.
I know it's been a huge wait but it's been a great past 2 months of working mostly off camera with the music going, jandals on, enjoying a kiwi summer.
The next Stagea episode will be going up at the usual time this weekend and then it's back into regular uploads.
If you want to watch the video early and ad free, it's been up for a few days already over on my Patreon for members at all tiers along with some extra posts and some exclusive behind the scenes content. www.patreon.com/TofuAutoWorks
Tofu Auto Works
The next video on the Group C build is taking longer than I expected and so I probably wont have it up this weekend, so instead I'll be posting a short little video working on the Twin.
Can't wait to start turning this thing into the coolest Suzuki Twin on the internet.
1 week ago | [YT] | 586
View 17 replies
Tofu Auto Works
日本の皆さんに質問です！
新しい作業場用に工具を揃えようと思っていて、皆さんのアドバイスをお願いしたいです。
まだ日本に来て間もなく、ブランドやお店のことがあまりよく分からないので、どれを選ぶか迷っています。今探しているのは MIG溶接機 と エアコンプレッサー で、家庭用の 100V で使えるものが必要です。ガレージの電源を新しく引き直すつもりはありません。ニュージーランドでは 230V の工具が多く、安くても十分パワーがありましたが、日本ではそう簡単にはいかないので、ちゃんとしたものを選びたいと思っています。
おすすめのメーカーやブランド、ウェブサイト、工具屋さんなど、もし知っていたらぜひ教えてください！
メルカリで良さそうな中古品や、Amazonで手頃なものを探していたのですが、こういう工具は買う前に意見を聞いたほうが良さそうだと思いました。
よろしくお願いします！
2 weeks ago | [YT] | 132
View 38 replies
Tofu Auto Works
Bit of a less than awesome update. There wont be a video Tomorrow as I've had a lot of my time taken up lately trying to deal with the insane amount of people stealing and reposting my content as their own.
YouTube and Instagram are the only platforms I'm active on, but some unscrupulous individuals have been stealing my videos to then make up random AI voiceovers and post these to TikTok and Facebook.
I've tried reporting, but these big companies just ignore me, and why wouldn't they? From Facebook and TikTok's perspective, I'm not a user of theirs, I'm not making them any money, but these fake accounts are. And that seems to be all that matters to them.
When people DM me and tell me that they saw my content on TikTok I always pretty much just say that if I spent the time trying to take them all down, I'd have no time left for actually working on cars. But I also know that if I let them keep getting a way with it, then it may turn into a bigger problem.
The really brutal thing is that I put so much time and effort into these videos, and I make just enough to get by with YouTube, but these accounts on Facebook will get millions of views off my videos, and some even make more off them than I do, and that's a real kick in the nuts.
And that brings us to where you guys can help me.
I'm going to something pretty radical, and look at posting my own content on Facebook and TikTok. Hopefully if I build my channels up enough, maybe that will make them actually listen to me. I know a lot of you probably don't even use Facebook anymore and if you like my videos, you probably can't stand TikTok either, but it would really help me out if you could go over there and give me a follow. Once I've got enough followers and can apply for monetization, I believe that they might actually stop just throwing all my reports in the trash and actually listen to me.
My official pages are:
www.facebook.com/tofuautoworks/
www.tiktok.com/@tofuautoworks
The second thing I'd like to ask for is if you do come across my content by anyone pretending to be me, hit the report button, and drop a comment so that people know who really made it. I'm insanely lucky to have honestly one of the best fan bases on the internet and a lot of you are already doing this and it really means a lot.
I love making these builds even though filming them more than doubles the time it takes, but if I'm going to keep this up I need it to be worthwhile, and I can't do that when I'm working 70 hours a week and having my only source of income at the moment be stolen from me on these other platforms.
And if you've read this far then obviously this matters to you and I really appreciate it. You guys all mean a lot to me and I wouldn't be able to do any of this without you, and so if this is something that you car about as well, you can also consider supporting me over on Patreon. Lately I've been getting a few more Patrons and so I've been posting some more regular updates and behind the scenes of the latest builds.
www.patreon.com/c/TofuAutoWorks
Sorry for the huge post, people ask me why I don't talk and I guess it's because once you get me started I don't shut up haha.
I'll try and have the next video up for you guys as soon as possible, until then thank you all for the support!
Cheers 🤙
2 months ago | [YT] | 691
View 73 replies
Tofu Auto Works
Time to finally pull the covers off the next build!
I've been teasing this in my videos for weeks and quite a few of you have already guessed the platform we're working on.
As usual with my builds, when picking what platform to work on I always look for a car that I believe is a little under-appreciated, and in this case we landed on the 3rd generation MR2.
The MR2 has always been a favorite car of mine, particularly the first gen AW11. Over the years and evolution the MR2 has remained an extremely capable car, but as with nearly every car, by the latest generation they started to lose favorability among fans.
Working together once again with my good friend Stan over at SCC @stanscustomcreations on Instagram, we've spent well over the past year and a half working on the design and have finally created something that we are extremely proud of and I can't wait to show it all to you in the video reveal coming out this weekend.
Thanks for sticking in there and stay tuned for the build reveal soon.
#projectcar #youtube #customcar #mr2 #mrs #mr2spider
3 months ago | [YT] | 1,233
View 75 replies
Tofu Auto Works
That's a wrap on the Stagea build, I'm stoked to hear how happy you all are with the end result!
On that note, with this latest video my channel has finally passed over 200,000 subscribers! You guys are the best and I wouldn't be here doing this without all the support and enthusiasm for these builds.
Over the past year I've mentioned that I'll be moving to a new workshop and now it's finally happening. The next few months are going to be pretty full on with packing everything I own into a container and shipping it overseas to start from scratch, so I'm going to have to ask you guys once again to put up with a little hiatus on the videos haha.
Absolutely would not be able to do this without you and I can't wait to start this new chapter in my life! Massive thanks again, I never expected to hit this subscriber milestone when I posted my very first video.
Really looking forward to getting set up in my new shop and getting stuck straight in to my next build which is going to be probably one of the most extreme exterior transformations on YouTube.
200,000 baby!
* (For anyone desperate to know what my next build might be, I've been hiding clues across my various social media including one in this post.)
8 months ago | [YT] | 1,937
View 76 replies
Tofu Auto Works
The final episode of the GTR Stagea build will be going up this weekend at the usual time, Sunday 7:30pm NZST.
It's a long one to make up for me keeping you all waiting so get some snacks ready. If you need that sanding fix asap you can get early access and watch it right now over on Patreon.
www.patreon.com/TofuAutoWorks
We are also SO close to hitting 200,000 subscribers and it would be amazing to hit that milestone with the finale of this build series so if you haven't already consider subscribing!
I normally don't ever ask but frankly my OCD has been going crazy sitting in the 190's for the past 3 months, haha.
9 months ago | [YT] | 1,003
View 29 replies
Tofu Auto Works
No video tonight, I've spent the past 2 weeks having my first real holiday in about 4 years and I guess the lack of sanding put my body into shock because I've been sick since I got back but I'm almost fully recovered now.
There's a quick teaser of what I'm working on for the next video, some might even call it a spoiler. I needed a bit of a change of pace so I'm taking a quick break from the Stagea to get some more work done on this Miata.
I'm trying to see if it's going to be something I can finish in one episode or two but either way I'm hard at work and aiming to have it up as soon as possible.
1 year ago | [YT] | 420
View 18 replies
Tofu Auto Works
※ その下に日本語訳。
So I've had a bit of a dilemma lately.
As we all know, it's just me here. No editors or anybody to help with the sanding or fiberglassing, so that does mean that every now and then when orders pile up it is pretty tough to keep up with the videos which is why my uploads have been a bit inconsistent.
I'm sorry about that and want everyone to know that I am still alive and working as hard as ever on my builds and these videos.
But I also want to just take this time to dive a little into the behind the scenes and some changes that I'm making to my videos. Since I don't talk in my videos these posts are really the only chance I get to have a proper 1 on 1 with you guys haha.
So we're 30 episodes in to this Stagea build now, and it feels like the past 6 months have just been sanding bodyfiller and making moulds. And I know you guys are awesome and there's nothing you want more than another 40 minute sanding compilation, but I feel like even I'm getting a little tired of the same old thing every 2 weeks. 😂
Because of that I've decided that I want to try a slight change with how often I upload and so for the next few months I'm going to be holding off a little longer between uploads so that each video covers more actual work.
The way I've been doing it until now is usually about 7 - 10 solid days work with 3 - 4 days compiling and editing the video, leaving me a couple days for my other fiberglass orders and if I'm lucky, maybe a day off. Then rinse and repeat every 2 weeks. That means only half of my time is really going into these builds and as a result, they take bloody forever.
I'm not giving up on my 2 week upload schedule for good, but I think it's important to find a good balance in life and so if I've got 3 fiberglass orders to take care of the same week I'm supposed to finish 2 moulds and make a video, it means the video probably isn't going up that week.
All that said, the next video is underway and I hope to have it up real soon. But I'm curious, if I were to add in smaller videos, less time demanding, what sort of stuff would you be interested in seeing? Various tips and tricks? Car meets? 4 hours of unedited sanding / fiberglassing? Random little side projects? Let me know.
You guys are awesome and you're support means the world to me so thank you.
最近、私はちょっとしたジレンマを抱えている。
というのも、僕は自分ひとりで仕事をし、これらのビデオを撮影しているため、たまに注文が重なると、ビデオをアップロードし続けるのがかなり難しくなってしまうのだ。
申し訳なく思っているし、まだ新しいエピソードのために頑張っていることを知ってほしい。
また、私が行っているいくつかの変更について、舞台裏で少しお話したいと思います。カメラに向かって話すことはないので、1対1で話す唯一のチャンスなんだ。
このステージアの製作も30回を迎えましたが、この6ヶ月間はボディフィラーを研磨したり、メス型を作ったりしていたような気がします。君たちはすごいし、もっともっとサンディングのビデオを楽しみたいだろうけど、僕だって2週間ごとに同じことの繰り返しにはちょっと飽きてきたんだ。😂
そのため、今後数ヶ月はアップロードの間隔を少し長く取り、各ビデオがより実際の作業をカバーできるようにすることにしました。
今までのやり方だと、だいたい7～10日間しっかり仕事をして、3～4日でビデオをまとめて編集していた。これだと、他の注文のために2、3日しか残らないし、運が良ければ2週間に1日は休める。このため、私はこれらのビルドに半分の時間しか費やさないので、永遠に時間がかかるのだ。
2週間に1回のアップロードを完全に諦めたくはないが、生活の中で健全なバランスを見つけることは重要なので、複数のメス型とビデオを作る必要がある同じ時期にファイバーグラスの注文がたくさん入った場合、その週はビデオをアップできないかもしれない。
とはいえ、次のビデオは現在制作中で、すぐにでもアップしたいと思っている。でも、もし私がもっと小さなビデオを追加するとしたら、あまり時間がかからないとしたら、どんなものを見たいと思いますか？様々なヒントやトリック？車ミーティング？編集なしの4時間のサンディング／ファイバーグラスティング？ランダムな小さなサイドプロジェクト？教えてください。
君たちは素晴らしいし、君たちのサポートは僕にとって大きな意味がある。
1 year ago | [YT] | 865
View 56 replies
Tofu Auto Works
Who's ready for some more cyberpunk Miata content!
Time for a break from the Stagea I reckon and so next week's video will be back to work on the Chimera! I aim to have it up at the regular time and date so set your alarms, YouTube has been doing a trash job sharing my videos with my subscribers lately so don't miss it.
I also like to use these posts for a little behind the scenes since I don't really get a chance to talk otherwise.
So this year the goal with my videos is to try and balance my workload a bit better to hopefully not burn out. To do that I've decided to limit myself to strictly 7 days of solid work per episode, excluding editing. I quite often end up doing way more than this which usually leaves me with over 500GB of footage to edit and it can take days to get through it all. Hopefully cutting back will give me at least a couple days off every 2 weeks.
My other reason for wanting to do this is I'm trying to build up a bit of a buffer so I'm not constantly under pressure to get a video up. I've got some really big plans coming the end of the year that will require me to be out of the country for a couple months and I don't want to leave you with no videos, so I have to start working towards that now.
This will just be a quick detour with the Chimera as I just want to do a few small pieces around the front and then I'll get back to the Stagea and maybe even sprinkle in a few one-off episodes on some other odd jobs.
1 year ago | [YT] | 1,104
View 35 replies
Tofu Auto Works
We're finally back!
I know it's been a huge wait but it's been a great past 2 months of working mostly off camera with the music going, jandals on, enjoying a kiwi summer.
The next Stagea episode will be going up at the usual time this weekend and then it's back into regular uploads.
If you want to watch the video early and ad free, it's been up for a few days already over on my Patreon for members at all tiers along with some extra posts and some exclusive behind the scenes content.
www.patreon.com/TofuAutoWorks
1 year ago | [YT] | 1,368
View 44 replies
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