The past couple of times I've made and used Nicholas Lodge's gumpaste, I've ended up with a crust of elephant skin all over the outside of my figures. What am I doing wrong? And how can I prevent this from happening??

I do put Crisco on my hands when I'm working with it to keep it from sticking to me. Is this the culprit of my "flaky crust"??

Your pieces are probably too heavy. The weight of the gumpaste is pretty much collapsing into itself, causing the elephant skin where it has started to dry.

If you can't divide your project into smaller pieces, I suggest wrapping the gumpaste around a lightweight form, such as styrofoam or crumpled up foil.

Or, make the heavy parts in stages. In other words, make a form from gumpaste. Let it dry, then add onto it and so on until it's the size you want.