Hello everyone

My son is insisting on a dragon cake for his birthday next month and it MUST look like his dragon figurine. He is adamant it needs to be 3D and not 2D.
I have had a few thoughts about it but am really not sure - this will be my first sculptured/3D cake and I am so worried about things like keeping the head up etc.
I've thought of using RKT for the neck/head area but ideally I wanted to make the head well in advance so as to be sure I have it made rather than waiting till a few days before and then it all going horribly wrong. Plus I have to make my other sons car cake too as they are having a shared party.
So how long in advance can I make it using RKT? Would it be better to create the head with a styrofoam ball?
Any ideas on how to construct this cake will be greatly appreciated!!

Whoa! That's a challenge!
Is there a reason you can't make the dragon a figure out of gum paste and/or modelling chocolate and put that on the cake instead of trying to make the cake itself into a dragon?
Doing it that way would allow you to make the figure (or you could make a few different dragons) well in advance and would allow you to match his toy exactly. I saw a thread on here yesterday from someone who was making dragon figures for a cake - they posted photos and they looked amazing - just needed some color! You might be able to find that thread somewhere on here.
Carving a dragon cake is going to be challenging and time consuming, particularly if he has his heart set on it looking just like his toy.
I'd stack a couple of round or square cakes and encorporate dragon figures on top of the cake.
Bonus: he can keep the figures afterwards!
Just a thought!!
Good luck and make sure you post pictures!!!

For your very first 3D cake?! I think I would suggest making the same dragon but in a different pose. So the basic shape of the body would be the same, and the coloring of course, but he'd be lying down. That way you wouldn't have to worry about the structural integrity of that long neck, and getting the pieces joined together so that it looks right.

Kinda like these:
http://www.cakecentral.com/cake-photo_1163021.html
http://www.cakecentral.com/cake-photo_1312001.html
http://www.cakecentral.com/cake-photo_40435.html

Hm, this one has an upright head and neck (RKT), but still, you see how the neck isn't quite so long and skinny, and there's a sort of chest area sticking out in front to balance it.
http://www.cakecentral.com/cake-photo_104153.html

Sometimes you have to explain to your kid what is possible. How old is he? I bet he'd be thrilled with even an approximation of "his" dragon.

Anyway, as for how far in advance to make the RKT -- that stuff is pretty much non-perishable. I wouldn't worry about it. Sculpt a bunch of them, and then just pick the best to frost and decorate.

Here are some instructions i used to make a dragon cake. It is lying down, but you won't have to worry about supporting that neck. Tell your son he's sleeping!


http://www.sdbytracy.com/dragoncake.htm