Hi everyone, I'm trying my first gum paste tiara (it's drying on the table, looks great so far!) and am planning to paint it gold. So I've used the luster duster/vodka mix before to paint and it has never really worked out right, maybe someone has some tips for me. The first time it was too runny--I'm painting a detail and it's running down the side of the cake. The second time I used less vodka and the consistency was good, but the color didn't show up (was painting something silver and it just looked sort of shiny pearl-grey. So the third time I decrease the vodka to LD ratio again, and that time the color was great, consistency seemed good, but the paint kept separating. I would give it a stir with each dip of my brush, but still had lumps of gold on my letters and other strokes that were mostly vodka and hardly any gold at all.

So, next question: I've never used piping gel before, but I happen to have a tube of gold. Would that be a good substitute if I can't get the paint to work? Does piping gel dry, or does it stay sticky/wet?

Thanks, everyone, for your help; I always get my questions answered by the kind community here

Piping gel doesn't "dry" completely - it will always stay tacky.

does no one have any thoughts on my luster duster/vodka problems??

I do have something to say about vodka and luster dust...I hate it!!!! I had the exact same problems you had and I thought maybe I did something wrong or my dust was maybe old, damaged, etc.
Then someone suggested to use clear vanilla instead and that worked great!! so, try clear vanilla and let me know. Good luck!
Oh btw, I can't really give you measurements because I just added the clear vanilla drop by drop until I had the right consistency, ok?

Airbrush would be my first choice. If you don't have one, you might just need to plan on painting two coats with your brush.

Thanks for the helpful comments--no airbrush! unfortunately. And no clear vanilla, actually, but the Walmart is not far
Thanks, everyone.

Lemon juice works too.

I have found that when I want to paint something with the gold or silver dust, that mixing it with confectioners glaze is best. It doesn't leave streaks and I always get a nice even coat.

Have you thought of the gold lustre dust spray?