Very new to this site and I've never worked with gumpaste before. I was thinking of getting some and trying it out-not for anything in particular just for fun. I've seen some figures that say they are half gumpaste and half fondant. What are the advantages of doing that mix instead of the all gumpaste?
any newbie tips would be appreciated = )

Hi, welcome to CC!

Most of the time I mix 1/2 a teaspoon of CMC/Tylose powder to 250g of fondant. But like you said, you can mix 50/50 gumpaste and fondant. If you use gumpaste alone, its more likely to dry quicker and won't give you time to play with the paste and get the desired result. But with the 50/50 you will get time to play with it and get the end result you want.

HTH.

That does help-thank you!

It also depends on where you live. I live in South Florida and it's VERY VERY humid here, so no matter if I use gumpaste, fondant, or a mixture of both, my figures still take forever to dry. In fact, I usually have to do them in pieces over a period of days in order to get them to come out just right. I use the gumpaste/fondant 50/50 mix most of the time mostly because I like the pliability of the gumpaste but the fondant is a little sturdier, if that makes any sense.