I hope someone can help me. I made a 3-D mold of Nemo for the Nemo I am making for my little boy's birthday party this weekend. Last night I made the Nemo out of chocolate using orange candy melts. It turned out good and I was pleased; however, when I tried to paint the white stripes using white chocolate it wasn't coming out smooth. Besides that when I used black candy color for the black stripe it wouldn't dry. Another problem was while I was holding the piece to 'paint' one side, it was starting to melt due to the heat of my hand on the other side. With all that being said I tried to make another Nemo by painting the white and black stripes first with melted chocolate in the mold (with the intention of stacking the layers) but it was setting up too quickly and by the time I got to the orange chocolate those layers were flaking up and coming off. Do you have any ideas on how to make it work using chocolate?

On another note I tried to make Nemo using the same mold using gum paste to see if I would have any better luck. I tinted orange gum paste and it came out pretty good. My problem was that there were some creases that would not smooth. Is there a way to get gum paste smooth once it is unmolded or when it is dry?

A few more questions, how do you suggest adding the white and black stripes to the gum paste once it is dry? I was thinking about using white gum paste for the white stripe and painting the black (or do you think I need to use black gumpaste instead of painting it)?

I am including a couple pictures of the mold so you can see why I was having trouble painting with chocolate. I also have a picture of the chocolate piece (with partially painted stripes) and a picture of my wrinkled gumpaste piece that I am hoping you have suggestions to smooth.

Thanks so much for taking the time to read all this. I am sorry it is so long but I want my Nemo to turn out really good. Thanks in advance for any help.

First, I hate working with chocolate, so I can't help you there. Every time I try that stuff NOTHING goes well, and I end up with a mess. I must be chocolate impaired.

As to your gumpaste...

Moydear77 told me that you can mix a small bit of fondant with everclear to make a paste and "putty" your cracks with it. I haven't had the opportunity to try it yet, but it sounds interesting. You could PM her for the details, I'm sure she'd help. That might help with your gumpaste creases.

Thanks for your reply Karateka. I PM'd Moydear earlier. I hope she will be able to respond. Until then if anyone else has any ideas I would really appreciate it.

you could still use the choc for nemo and add his stripes with fondant or gumpaste. prob what I would do as painting on choc is a PIA.

when you hold him, just let him rest in your palm or on the table, try not to grip him with your fingers.

the only thing I can think of for the wrinkled gumpaste nemo is that your gumpaste had some wrinkled when u stuffed it in the hole. I would try to make sure I rolled a smooth oblong ball and stuff it in the hole and push it in there HARD

HTH

Thanks for responding Sugarshack. I didn't know that you could add gum paste on chocolate. I like that idea. I was able to get the chocolate smooth. By the way what is PIA and how would I attach gum paste to chocolate?

PIA= Pain In the Ass

Just brush the gumpaste with some water, it will make it somewhat sticky, and should stick to the chocolate....

Thanks so much sugarshack, karateka and moysdear for your help for my Nemo. I ended up making him in chocolate and doing his stripes out of gumpaste. I was very pleased with the way he turned out and everyone was talking about how cute the cake turned out at the party. I really appreciate your responses.