I have the second class in course I so far. I followed the instructors directions of using only 2 tbl of oil rather than the 1/3 c . I have used the butterfly and Dora pan. I have had both get a crack but it ends up being on the bottom. I used the baking strips. I don't what I'm doing wrong. I hate this electric oven with a passion! I seem not be getting all the outlines from the pan too.Any tips or advice? I'm going to be making a Shreck cake for my daughters birthday soon. I will be using a silicone mold instead. In any case what is the best bc for character cakes that actually taste decent and not too sweet?
Thanks a bunch,
Kelley
are you trying to make the cake more dense? You could try adding an extra and and a package of pudding to the mix instead. I havent heard of reducing the oil before.
It is probably hard to keep the bake even strips on a character cake I imagine. You could also try to reduce the heat to say 325 and bake it a bit longer instead.
Oh and dont expect to see the outlines well either! I have only done one or two of the character cakes and they really dont show up. Just keep looking at the picture unfortunately.
Your cake mix sounds crazy! It would think it would be dry.
Have you used the oil with flour spray. Yes, I'm sometimes lazy and use this. Try that on your character pan. Make sure you get it all over and between cracks to prevent sticking. And listen to all of Merissa's advice.
I never seem to "clearly" see the lines on my character pans, They usually are fairly faint. I use the crisco/oil/flour mix on my pans and they come out very cleanly. I have never reduced the amount of oil in my mix and they come out fine.
I'd try just changing what you are "greasing" your pan with.
Hi galliesway,
I haven't heard of reducing the oil in the mix either but then I have never taken a class on cakes either. I have however made countless number of character cakes and enjoy them very much. I don't have the talent that these wonderful bakers on cc have so I pretty much stick with these pans as they are something I can do well. 
I wouldn't cut the amount of oil, but maybe add an egg (I have not tried the extra pudding but have read lots that it moistens and helps). Also make sure you really soak the baking strips well with cold water then lightly squeeze out the excess just so they aren't dripping. I know it is hard to get the strips in allot of the curves but just pull as tight as you can and secure them. You can also add the floral nail method to it if you want. I have done that several times to the longer pans. Just grease up the nails good and put it towards the center of the pan (even adding 2 spaced evenly apart and evenly away from the sides works good too depending on the size of the character). I myself don't lower the temp of my oven, but my oven is pretty finnicky. Lowering the temp is also something I have read allot of people do succesfully though.
Oh yeah, one last thing I do....as soon as your cake is done baking (hopefully it is pretty even) when you take it out of the oven take your cooling rack and gently push down the cake into the pan. Hold it there a few moments and this also helps flatten if you have a bit of a dome to it. 
As for the lines coming out well, I use the Wilton Bake Easy non-stick spray and I really like it. It has made a big difference for me.You don't want to be too scimpy on it either as I find if I am the cake sticks to the pan and I lose my lines that way too. When the cake is done baking and cooled for at least 10 minutes (even longer is better) it should release fine and your lines should be pretty prominent.
I hope this helps! Good luck and Happy Baking! 
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