Hello!

I am making a wedding topper for a friends wedding very similar to this...


and I have no idea how to make the figures stand on their own without falling over or needing ugly little miscellaneous things holding it up. It's for a wedding and I need all the supports to be hidden so it looks presentable. I'm extremely concerned and stressed out about how I can accomplish this! I've made tons of figures but never ones that had to stand this way and I'm freaking out! please help!!!!!

Hello, I am no expert but I would recommend making the body parts letting them harden and then putting them together. I use dry spaghetti to put them together. Aine2 has a few tutorials on her web page. HTH
Good luck and please post a picture when your done so we can see!!

Hummm, I would think that it's just very flat feet and then glued to the bottom piece, but pm aine2 and ask her. I'm sure she will know.

Good luck.

According to her site, the figures are not fondant.

I have made a bride topper and her torso is skewered to poly styrene cone, she doesn't have legs. The cone is stable for her to stand. The groom has skeweres through his legs into his wide shoes.

I think you'd always want a figure standing on 2 thin legs to have some supports extended through those legs. It's not worth 100% realism when the figure falls over

For the bride, I've done a small cone of sugarpaste (50/50 fondant gum paste, in my case) and then either modelled it to form the skirt or added draping. She'll stand on her own that way.

For the groom, you can insert dry spaghetti, toothpicks, dried picks of gum paste or pastillage, toothpicks, or cut off skewers in each leg (if the legs are fairly long & thin) or you can make a flattened cone, cut out a "^", add shoes & you've got legs in trousers.

As for Lindy, she uses a modelling compound called Artista Soft. It sounds like great stuff, but I can't find US availability and it's absurdly expensive shipped from the UK.

HTH
Rae

Insert wires in the legs for support.

Then do you attach the wire or whatever to a base? I understand about the bride being stable on a cone shape but what about the groom standing on two thin legs.

No matter what you use (and if you use wires, they should be a significant gauge, like 14,16, or eighteen), you can either leave them long enough to stick into the base, but not necessarily through it, or you can clip the leg supports after it dries and then attach it to the board with gum glue or royal. If it's spindly, I'd leave the supports to stick into the base.

Rae

i make the grooms with spaghetti or skewers in and you can leave a little poking out the bottom which you can insert into the cake, if they are going directly on top. i dont generaly make two legs, i make a rectangular piece, shape it and mark the trouser lines with some deep cuts.

hi+ i+ make these and there are two options, 1: make exactly like pic and 'glue' them onto a base plate as you can see them on or as i domore of i make them with a central skewer that comes out the bottom and use this to insert into the cake to hold them in the correct spot. later the bride and grrom can cut of the skewer with a pair of garden scossors or pliers or as many of my brides do, get a dummy cake and place them on top of this in a display cabinet so it appears thatthey have kepte their top tier forever.

I am sorry I just read your heading and the way it's phrased just made me have to say

"bring it to the blue fairy and ask her to make him a real boy" ha ha sorry couldn't resist!

Other posters suggestions work good too!

Could you possibly add a piece of wire, or spaghetti, or toothpick, etc to his arm and into the back of the bride?? His hand would cover it up.....

I also use a fairly long wooden skewer that I stick into each leg with about 3 inches hanging out so it can go pretty far into the cake for the most stability possible. If the figures are standing close together, you might also want to have the groom lean slightly on the bride since she's more stable. Kind of like in real life. HA!

hi everyone thank you so much for your wonderful suggestions. they are all things I have considered but wanted to hear first hand what people knew would really work!

kazoot... thats what I initially thought would be best... thanks!

When you guys make figures, how large do you think they could be before they'd be too heavy and fall over? I'm scared to put scewers into the cake and have them topple over and rip the entire top of the cake.. that would be a nightmare...