I have to make a Gordon (from Thomas the train) cake this week for my son's birthday. I have read the thomas tutorial on blogspot so I know generally what I am going to do. I just want to make sure it turns out well so I want to see what everyone else's experience has been. Here are my questions:

What size cake did you start with and what size pieces did you cut it into to make the correct shape (I need to feed about 20 people)? My plan is to start with a 14inch square and cut it into pieces from there (3, 4 3/8 x 12 inch pieces; 1, 2 x 14 inch; whatever is left over).

How did you cover the cake in fondant? I want the cake to be covered in fondant so it looks cleaner. Did you cover it in all one piece (I guess blue since a larger portion of the train is blue) and then add details on top or did you cover in separate smaller pieces?

Thanks for any info!!

None of the many Thomas builders can lend me any insight??!!

Hi housewife!

I made a 3D train for my son't birthday years ago too. I think I started with a 10 inch square slab of cake and went from there, without an actual pattern.

Now I am professionally doing cakes, I often steer parents into ordering a Thomas-theme cake, and then placing a toy Thomas/James/Gordon on the GP or BC tracks I've made. Bonus: child gets to keep the new toy! But there is no reason you can't fashion a Thomas cake for your son without breaking copyright laws etc.,

From memory, I used smaller pieces all over. I used a roulade type cake for the engine, and covered this cylinder separately before placing it on the rest of the cake. You can use RI piping in red to 'join' the flat bits visually, makign it easier to piece together smaller parts. I also made the face from a grey circle of fondant, let it dry and then stuck it on the cake.

If I was doing another Thomas these days, I would definitely carve the cake, then cleanly shape it using ganache like a putty to get sharp edges. Let itdry overnight and the next day do all the fondant-ing.

HTH

I have carved a Thomas, but from RKT-I wasn't brave enough to try cake. I just went to Walmart, bought a Thomas, and used it as a pattern and to get the proportions correct. I really didn't have a pattern, and mine was just a cake topper, not actually to be eaten.
When I read back over this I realize I have probably not helped you at all!

Have you seen the 3D Henry cake here on CC?

http://www.cakecentral.com/modules.php?name=gallery&file=displayimage&pid=420943

thomas was my 1st cake i ever made, i had never even iced a cup cake before, i used Debbie Brown character cake book and her instructions were great, maybe u could use that but change colour for who you want to do?

I used one recipe which I divided between two rectangular molds that I had for a long time. The first was aprox. 11" by 6" and the second one was about 10 inches X 5. I mounted the second cake on top of the first one and then I carved Thomas the train. I also covered the cake with one piece of blue fondant. Then, I added the details of the face, black rectangles, wheels, etc...I premade all the detalis out of gumpaste. It was my firtst carved cake, so it gave me the impression that is was taking me a longer time than I planned but still I enjoy doing it. I also found that the more straight the corners in the back of the train were the better it looked, Good Luck Confectionsofahousewife.

I found on the picassa website the Favourite Character book by Debbie Brown. Here is the link and I hope it will help you.

http://picasaweb.google.com/pippouno/FavouriteCharacterCakes#

Thank you everyone for your ideas! I have carved the cake and put buttercream on it. I am sooooo scared to put the fondant on! I am going to do that today. I am afraid that the caked will squish under the weight of the fondant or that I won't be able to get the details that I carved to show thru the fondant.

I felt the same way. Go for it. You and the fondant will be fine...