AI was asked to make the tmnt shellraiser cake for 50 people can someone give me advice in where ti start

if you make one that's all closed up you can just basically make a nice big block of cake and adorn it with all the other accoutrements even if you open some of it up for some of the extras i'd still start with a big block of cake --

for 50 servings let's see -- it's seems to be about 1" high by 1.5 long by .5" wide in the thumbnail image i found --

http://www.figurerealm.com/viewcustomfigure.php?FID=44080

so for 50 servings 8" high 12" long and 4" wide -- 48 servings give or take plus wheels & things 

you'll need to board and dowel at the 4" mark (halfway up the 8 inches tall) 

best to you

and i would use frozen cake to make this -- i would use a nice sturdy cake like a pound cake or something that's not crumbly --

this is a great scratch recipe: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/trisha-yearwood/cold-oven-poundcake-recipe.html

and this is a great recipe using a mix: http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/incredible-melted-ice-cream-cake-102834 and you can use any flavors -- note that current cake mixes are smaller than when this recipe was written so you need to buy enough by weight --

and speaking of what fits in the pans here's a data chart for that:  http://www.wilton.com/wedding/wedding-cakes/wedding-cake-data.cfm

since this might be one of your first sculptures -- i'd recommend that you find one picture to go with by googling "tmnt shellraiser images" 

and instead of cutting away to incorporate picky little dealios into your design -- keep your block of cake intact and add the decor to it -- unless you do something straighforward like the machine gun hole -- see what i mean -- it will be easier for you --

AThanks so much i was thinking about doing a block im glad im not that off base lol when you say i need to board and dowell at 4" you mean doing 4" high and adding a board on top then add the other 4" of cake? Do you think 4 1/4 sheets would work

AOh and thanks for the recipe

yes 4 quarter sheets will be plenty -- you'll probably have some leftover if you go by the dimensions i quoted -- but yes what you said about the 4" high -- basically cut your quarter sheets in half down the longway and stack two of them -- put in your dowel cut exactly to the same length each -- place your board on that and add the next two layers -- so when it's cuttin' time you have 'two tiers' to cut servings out of

AYes that makes sense thank you so much i really appreciate it

you are very welcome --

give yourself twice as much time as you think it will take you -- seriously 

get everything possible done in advance  -- all the little extra decor make it in advance -- get your box and boards ready in advance -- make the tires -- 

best to you

AThank you how far in advance can i make figures and some of the decor

Aif you are using royal icing and fondant decor you can make it months in advance -- i recommend that you use cornstarch kneaded into fondant if this cake is for kids because they will want to eat it all --

i once made a nurse's cap out of fondant and cornstarch that had to be used immediately -- no time for it to dry and it set up perfectly -- so you don't have to add that much cs but use a fair amount to get the fondant to hold the design and with enough time to dry you'll be fine -- an extra idea is to add a flavored oil to it and they will go nuts for it but it's not necessary

keep your items loosely covered out of sun & light

Aand make extra pieces for several reasons 1) in case of breakage 2) the extra copies usually look better than the first ones hahaha 3) sometimes you can use it to decorate the board or eat later when you've got a desperate sweet tooth

ALol ok thanks so much youve been so helpful