So I've been doing cakes for about a year now...and I'm by NO means a professional lol but a lot of people in the are are starting to come to me for more and more elaborate cakes.
Anyway, I originally told my friend I would do a 3D Darth Vador bust cake for his coworker. gave him a price etc. etc. Turns out he was wrong. The cake she wants is General Grievus and has to be based on this picture!!! I am stumped as to how to get the dome. Pretty sure I can handle the rest but ANY ideas would be MUCH appreciated lol. Cake is due Saturday. [/img]

I tried doing poured sugar over a bowl to get a semi-transparent dome and all I acheived were blistered fingers and a pile of broken sugar lol.

Sometimes, for transparent things, you just have to let people use their imaginations. Like with snow-globe cakes...usually they are blue with a piped or fondant image of the "inside of the snow globe" simply laid on the outside of the cake "dome."

I'd just make this sucker out of cake (or a cake dummy depending on your needs) and cover in black fondant, then steam it/paint with water/rub with crisco/etc. to get it shiny.

Either that or go completely inedible and see if you can use some sort of actual glass bowl on top of fondant/cake/rkt decorations. But how on earth would you mount his head on top.

I know you said it must be based on that specific pic, but I noticed other images of him where the transparent dome is actually gone, exposing the machinery inside. http://www.otherlandtoys.co.uk/grievous1_800.jpg