Hi all,
I need your expertise please as I'm still very new to decorating and I'm going to attempt figures for the first time.
I was thinking of making animals like moneys, elephants, etc for my son's birthday and I have all sorts of questions:
-should I just make them out of mmf or should I mix gumpaste or straight gumpaste or something else entirely?
-Are they still edible with any of the above combinations?
-how far ahead can I make these little guys?

Any other advice would be great too!

Thanks!!

I haven't made a ton of them, but in my opinion MMF is too soft to hold them together, I would try either mixing your Fondant with some GP or straight GP...and how far ahead depends on what you use...I would say at least 48 hours for them to dry! I hope this helps!

I would use 50/50 gumpaste-MMF other wise it takes the fondant way longer to dry. and they are still edible but dont taste that great.

-Samantha

P.S. you can make them as far in advance as you like ( they can last for years if you store them carefully )

Hi sugarmommy!
Depends what is more easy for you.... I make most of my figurines out of fondant (or mmf) with the hardner in it... but you can use half and half of fondant and sugar paste too...Depends what works well with your hands... You can make the figurines ages before as they last for a long time... but depending on the weather I wouldnt leave it till the last minute to make as they can take up to a day or two till they are touch dry.. and a few days till they are kinda rock.. hope this helps but the best way to do it is try different ways and use the best that suits you! Good luck!

I am not an expert, but I've made 3d figures out of gumpaste, fondant, a mix and most recently I started using modeling chocolate. Everyone's advice on the fondant situation so far is the same I would give, but I'd really recommend you give modeling chocolate a try. It tastes super yummy (it's just chocolate and corn syrup) and it's been so easy to work with. My favorite thing about it is you can make the figures the night before or even right before because it hardens quickly. It can get sticky when you are working with it, but I found if I kept an ice pack near by, it helped to cool my fingers. In my pictures the cowboy hat and the tinkerbell in my avatar were made with chocolate. Hope this helps!! Good luck with whatever you try.

hi there... i've used the half mmf and half gumpaste that works really well dries alot quicker... i've also used the wilton fondant all by itself (the only reason i use the stuff cause it just tastes awful!!) ... its really up to you and what you are more comfortable with...

hth
mimi

I'll buck the trend... I use MMF for all my figures and it works great. In fact I have a whole "barnyard" of them drying for this weekend's cake right now.

Thank you all so much! I'll give it a try and let you know how it goes.
KelleyM, I'm looking forward to seeing your barnyard animals. Please post pics when you can!

Could anyone please give advice on how you "Paint " the faces. Eyes, mouths etc...
Thanks soooo much!!!