Hey there all!

So I have been on a tutorial binge lately, mostly focusing on 3D cakes (spheres, shoes, large animals etc) and over and over again I find myself flabbergasted by just how amazingly smooth these people are managing to get their BC before they apply any of their fondant.

3D is something I am starting to branch out in to and I have seen a few methods, but I am curious what you all use?  For RI on smaller RKT pieces I have seen people use a damp brush, and for cakes with SMBC, I have seen people take a long strip of wax paper and use that to smooth.

I can already see myself pulling my hair out over small stupid lines left by my offset, so I was hoping for insight in to a better way XD

Gonna be doing a few 3D test cakes coming up.

Thoughts?  Tip?  Tricks?

When I made my lady bug cake (baked in a Pyrex bowl), I iced it as smooth as I could with an offset spatula then placed it in the fridge for about thirty minutes.

After I covered it, I took a wad of fondant and started slowly smoothing the cake with it until it took on the shape. I was able to get it pretty smooth with that technique.

I must say that I would be totally lost trying to do a sphere though. hth

I am sure this is not the right way to be doing it but when I have used SMBC and I get a bit of a lip on the top I let it set hard in the fridge then take a super hot knife and 'slice it smooth' lol. I wonder if you could use the hot knife to also smooth the rest of the cake once it has set as straight from the fridge it appears to demonstrate the properties of the butter.

Well NerdyBaker, while I'm no expert at doing carved cakes (still trying to master just covering a cake with fondant). I saw some cool techniques on wickedgoodies site. I did look for a few others and they all resulted in using your God given tools to achieve the smoothest crumb coat possible, which are your hands. Gloved of course 

"One little trick I figured out this time is how to get a super smooth crumb coat.  In every fondant tutorial I’ve ever read, the experts say that getting a smooth crumb coat is vital in making the fondant look its best.  But no matter how much I smoothed with the frosting knife, I couldn’t eliminate all the indents and ridges.  This time I tried something new.  I kept putting the cake in the freezer between working on it and other projects, which definitely “chilled” the butter in the buttercream.  Then I used my finger to warm and smooth the buttercream frosting so there were absolutely no ridges whatsoever.  It definitely made  a difference when I topped it with the fondant."

http://www.ourfamilyunit.com/diy/monster-truck-cake-tutorial"