I hope some one can guide me in the right direction for making a gum paste/Fondant figurine... I am using 50/50 mix - I am not sure if I am using the right ratio. The issue I am having is sculpting a smooth face. The one head I already made seemed ok with some very minor cracks, once it dried - it looked like it "aged" 30 years.

TIA for your help.

Sounds like your mixture is too dry to me. In the paste, I have used Wilton's fondant and also MMF to make my figurines. I added Tylose powder to my MMF to give it more stability; Wilton fondant is ok as-is. I also work with shortening on my hands. I keep them nice and greasy while making my figurines. haha

oops...typo. *In the past,*

I only use MMF and add Tylose powder, never cracks and is sooo smooth. I will not use anything else for characters. I will only use gumpaste for flowers.

Work with a little shortening on your hands, that should help a lot. I use fondant mixed with a little gum tragacanth (about 1 tsp per 500g fondant) for all my figurines, and that works well for me.

Thanks for all the info = )

If you look at some of the tuts on youtube about fondant figurines, you'll see it's a pinch. So, I don't know exact amount that I use but you can feel the difference.

thank you!