just finished my first fondant 3d type cake. I am hobbist so I don't sell cakes its for fun, but I strive for the professional quality. The cake is a replica of the baseball national championship trophy.
The biggest problem that I had was getting the fondant smooth. I am not sure if it was the buttercream thickness or consistency. Or working the fondant better. The buttercream(indydebi) never really got stiff like the butter based buttercream that I have made before. although I am not sure what you need. the center is an isomalt pane which worked well other than a little yellow. The top section is RKT but I had the same fondant/buttercream problem. It sank a little and made it uneven but that was because my dowels were not even when I assembled the top section.
I can take strong criticism but please offer tips to improve. thats the only way that I can get better. Family and friends won't be critical.
Thansk to catlharper and imagethatnj for answering questions earlier in the month

i cant seem to attach a picture
lets try a link
http://www.cakecentral.com/modules.php?name=gallery&file=displayimage&pid=1809122[/img]

Two things would have helped you on this...one, use a smoother, not your hands, to smooth the fondant. Hands are warm and leave impressions as well as fingerprints. The other is the label/emblems. Before putting them on the cake you may want to let them get completely solid. Then they go on without losing the perfect round, square or rectangular shape. Even just one day drying time can make a real difference. All that said, I don't think you did an awful job and your isomalt looks great!

Cat

The cake looks great, as above I would also recomment fondant smoothers instead of hands. The only other thing I would suggest is that when you paint your letter gold place a piece of parchment paper (or similar) at the base and that way it will pick up any stray flicks of the paint brush and stop them showing on the icing underneath.

Another tip is to use a level to make sure all of your lines and the tops of your cakes are straight.

I'm not one to work with fondant. ( tried a cake in fondant this past weekend....disaster!!! ripped it off and went with BC instead) i think for a first attempt you did a great job!. I agree you need to use a smoother because you can see fingerprints, but all in all I think it looks great!

I used a fondant smoother, but I believe I must have screwed it up when I put the fondant on. I never could get it to smooth out. the more I messed with it the worse it got. Should the butter cream be on the stiff side? It seamed like it was just pushing the buttercream around under the fondant. Thanks for everyones input.