Good morning,
I attempted to mold a baby out of gumpaste yesterday and it was disastrous. Besides my sculpting skills just basically sucking, the gumpaste kept drying out on me and cracking. (The baby looks like the rock guy from Fantastic 4). I tried to rub a bit of crisco in, but no help. Should I have used a 50/50 blend with fondant? The cake itself had major issues. I was attempting a pillow cake..it is probably the thinnest pillow ever! I'll definitely need to use 2 layers next time and NOT use a box mix..it kept breaking off. Its all a lesson learned though and it was a fun project.
The pic is in my gallery for those who are interested.

Thanks,
cindy

Did you keep the gumpaste tightly wrapped in plastic wrap every second that you weren't using it? That, and working crisco into it, is the only way I can keep it from drying. I keep it wrapped up, pinch off a tiny bit, mold what I need to, then pinch off some more and keep the rest covered. Also, did you make your own gumpaste? Maybe too much powdered sugar?

I really think it looks nice. You did a great job on it.

Wilton has just come out with already made gumpaste......and it is wonderful to work with!! I keep one of those cheap-o ziploc bowls (with the lid) close and keep the gumpaste in that instead of messing with a piece of saran wrap while I am working with it. (when I am finished for the day I wrap it in the saran wrap then in a ziploc bag though)

You definately need a firm cake for that pillow cake ~ like a pound cake type mix or one of the scratch cakes - those are usually pretty firm. You can't see that you had any trouble with it though - it looks very pretty.

For things like that I like fondant with gumtex added or 50/50 fondant/gumpaste. I think the fondant gives you more time to work with it before it starts to dry, but the gumtex or gumpaste helps it dry faster so it holds shapes better.