Hey everyone! I am new to CC & love all the cake advice I see it's very helpful! I am wanting to know about piping. specifically when doing scroll work. When I have tried, my icing tends to either be too runny or not thin enough and I am looking for the perfect consistency. What icing should i be using for any type of piping? i use buttercream normally but detailed work im not sure why my royal icing is not working as well. I see so many beautiful tiered cakes with this and I want to give it a go, any advice is well appreciated!! and also I am looking to buy an airbrush. Don't want to spend a ton on it but want a good outcome. Thanks!!

The exact consistency is something you are going to have to work out yourself.  What might be perfect to me could be too thick or thin for you.  A lot depends on how hot your kitchen and hands are.   How heavy is your 'squeeze' - how hard you can squeeze the icing through each different tube etc, etc.  I worked in b'cream.  Doing scrolls was easy for me once I perfected the consistency just right for me.

Good thinking, I'll try out a few things and see what works best. do you have any suggestions on how to do good scrolls other than practice? I have a pretty steady hand but they look so whimsical on cakes. 

Use a 1/2 circle to makr where you want the scroll to go and follow it.  Can yoou post a pic of what you have done?  Maybe suggestions would be different if I could see what  you are doing/how they look.  

But.......really nothing beats practice, practice, practice!  Practice makes perfect :)

As for making cinsistency just right it might take a bit more shortening or liquid..  You want a consistency that is a bit on the soft side but not mushy.  Usually extra fat is what is needed rather than liquid.

Make up a batch of Wilton's classroom icing w/o flavoring - basically just shortening and sugar, then make it creamier by adding more fat, rather than soft by using liquid.  Use it for practice over & over.    Once you think you have it perfect, then try using your 'real' recipe by using the amounts of fat and sugar w/flavoring and a dash of salt.  Don't have any idea what you are using for an icing recipe so you will just have to play around as I said before :)