I posted about the 3d duck pan but my customer just sent me this pic. I'm not sure where she found it. (btw did i mention i haven't done cakes in over a year? moving, renovating, and new baby) I'm a little out of practice. so anyways, I don't think this particular pic is using the wilton duck pan. she needs 35-45 servings. can i carve a cake big enough for that? i'm guessing i can use the wilton ball pan for the head. how else would i go about it?

also, is this fondant or BC? I'm really not wanting to use fondant except for details on this one. can i do the BC without piping it and it look somewhat like this? or would it look bad if i don't get it perfectly smooth?

oh and would it be hard to do the smash cake a little duck as well? she also wants a party hat on the duck and maybe a party blower. I'm not sure whether to do the hat out of fondant or make one with scrapbooking paper?

Can you attach picture or send a link?

well dang, it's not letting me upload. here is a link...

http://www.dropshots.com/txabarnhill#date/2011-01-29/07:45:54

I would definetly use the ball pan for the head. For the body I would stack sheet cakes and carve them into a tear drop shape. I would cover it with fondant (all of it because bc isnt going to hold up the details). Then use modeling chocolate to make the end feathers (the butt!), the beak, etc. which will give you flexiblity of being able to make the details, etc.

so the ball pan is 6" right? how big can i make this cake and how many servings can i get out of it? i tried looking for one like this (not with the wilton pan) to ask the maker but i can't find one

Depending how big they cut them, you should have more than enough for 40 people. If you use a 9x13 pan, it serves 40 on its own. So you would probably want to go smaller, like a 7x11 pan which serves around 28 and you can double it. Then with the ball pan you would have a little extra. I always tend to go with more cake for regular parties because most people cut the cake larger than bridal sizes and then you also have people that go back for seconds!!