I am getting so frustrated trying to make carved cakes! I was trying to make Taz from Debbie Travis' cartoon cakes and it cracked around the bottom and was falling over while still crumb coated.
I had baked a WASC, leveled, and stacked about 10 inches tall (5 3/4 inch squares). I rounded the top and carved in around the case. I then crumb coated it and let it set. When I checked later, it was leaning (so must have been heavier on one side?)
The instructions did not say to use any dowelling or other supports. I had a similar problem when trying to do a topsy turvy a while back. I really want to do this cake for my kids sometime. Any suggestions for next time? Thanks for any help!

So you did it 10" tall without any supports? That's why it collapsed. I never go higher than 6" without support.

I agree, I would definitely have put in supports for a 10" tall cake. Especially since Taz is sort of bigger at the top and very tiny around the bottom. Sorry this happened, I know how frustrating it can be!

Ok - will definately try with supports next time - thanks sherry_lyn and frankdiabetes for answering so quickly!

Yup, supports every 4 inches and did you start out with frozen cake? This helps for the carving.

I agree about the supports. I would add: when carving a cake, start with cake in the basic shape of what you are carving (maybe you did, you didn't say). For instance, I would have baked this cake in a bowl. This way, at least you don't have to carve too much away from the cake and jeopardize the integrity of the cake. Also, I never put filling - except buttercream in carved cakes. You need stability for carved cakes, and other fillings shift too much. Always freeze before icing or covering in fondant.

Think of a carved cake the same way you would a staked, tiered caked. Same thing, just different shape. You wouldn't go much more than 4" high in a tier before you added support and started the next tier.

I agree with supporting every 4 - 6 inches and I also use foam core because I found that it doesn't absorb the moisture like regular cake boards do.

Thanks for all of your help and suggestions - I feel much more confident to try again!