12-14 In Tall Standing Figure-What The???!!!
Decorating By mgdqueen Updated 6 Nov 2006 , 12:22am by mgdqueen
Is there anybody that has made a 12-14 inch standing person beside or on a cake? I have frantically searched this site and the entire web and cannot come up with any ideas. I was asked if I could make a 12-14 inch Marine standing beside or on a cake. I have done a few fondant figures, but at that size I'm thinking they would be too heavy. I am thinking I should try rice krispies, but I won't get the nice smooth finish that I hope I'll be able to achieve with something else.
ANY help would be SO appreciated!!
Maybe you could use a chocolate transfer and build it up quite thick. Then maybe have it stuck into the side of the cake. I've never done one of these, but it seems like it'd hold up. HTH!
As for the smooth finish, remember on the cereal skyscraper challenge Duff Goldman said he got a smoother finish with Rice Krispie treats by rolling the cereal with a rolling pin first?
You mean he crushed the cereal before making the treats? I'm needing a better understanding of this, as I wish to try this technique soon. Thanks!!
I do remember Duff saying that about crushing the cereal first. To anyone who has used this idea, do you think it's possible to do a free standing figure, or should I try it on some kind of stand or pillar? I'm kind of at a loss. The chocolate transfer would probably work, but would be so fragile at that size, I would worry about it cracking before it was delivered. Please correct me if I'm wrong in this thinking. I want to try to make this a "free standing" form. I sure hope I'm making sense.
Maybe you could make some sort of support out of wooden dowels and cover those with fondant? I made 12" turrets this weekend out of RK treats and a wooden bbq skewer and they leaned. How does Mike's Amazing Cakes do it?
If you make some sort of a pedestal/stand that comes out of the side or back of the figure at the very bottom, you could put that stand or pedestal UNDER the bottom of the cake, so the cake's weight would hold the figure up. Then, I think you could use something like fondant, maybe with dowel support inside.
The kind of stand I am thinking of would be sort of L shaped, with the base of the L under the cake, and the upright of the L being the figure.
RP
How does Mike's Amazing Cakes do it?
I wish I could figure that out! I'd be making a heckuva lot more money on cake! 
The L shaped support might be a way to go. That makes sense to me. I think I may have to go to the hardware store for supplies this time.
My fairy bride on the top of the jack cake is 9 or 10 inches tall. I have a wooden dowel running through her....as well as a ball of styrofoam in the center of her body. Otherwise, she is all fondant with the exception of her skirt, which is rice paper...all held together with a lot of royal.
I used to be a die-hard fan of everything being 100% edible, but if you want to work "outside of the box" then that is not always an option. I have not worked with Rice krispies, but when I need to smooth out a surface, I brush on a layer or two of royal icing....letting dry in between coats. I get a pretty smooth surface.
thank you so much for your input-the fairy bride and jack cake are amazing! I really wondered how you did that!! The coats of royal to make a smooth surface-why didn't I think of that? I was trying to figure out how I'd put fondant on a semi-bumpy surface (since I'm still fairly new to fondant!). That really gives me hope!
I have just posted a picture of a standing figure on my site, as I am unable to scale them down to size for the forum. It is made all in fondant, but heres a tip. If you use styrofoam for the base when you make standing figures, you can push the dowel right through the cake into the board and it won't budge, it stays solid. I run the wooden skewer right through the figure. Because a thick stick will distort my figure I use a coctail skewer, then I take a plastic balloon stick which is longer, thicker and sturdier than skewers, they are also hollow. Push this right through the cake & through the styrofoam base, cut off the top flush with the top of the cake. Put one drop of hot glue in the hollow and place your figure with the skewer into it, hold for a few seconds for the glue to harden. The glue is necessary as the skewer is thinnner than the hole in the plastic straw, it will cause you figure to wobble. Whatever you do do not try to fit the skewer into the straw and then into the cake, do it in the sequence I have given, it will work every time.
the gnomes in my pictures are about 7" tall, and is made with gumpaste. The trick it to use proper internal support, for small fiures I use toothpics or even dry spagetti, for bigger ones I use scewers.
I would make his body (naked legs and toso)push two scewers through the legs into the chest, and let it dry for at least 3 days and then put on his uniform. This will ensure that he wont flop over and the uniform will cover any lumps and bumps. The head can also be moulded at this time and let to dry on a toothpic but make the arms when u are ready to dress him, its a lot easier to get this covered in "fabric" and u then have the freedom to pose the arms
HTH
socake may be on to something...the trick w/ that would be hiding the support wire.
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my take:
start w/ a plywood base.
get the SMOOTH hidden tier support pillars.
drill into base about 1/2 way holes size of pillars so have tight fit. place holes close enough that pillars touch.
cut pillars to height needed for legs and glue into base and to each other.
cover base in appropriate material.
on top of pillars glue cake board or for extra strength another piece of plywood w/ the same hole and glue set-up as base.
stake layers of cake for body and carve to shape...basically a narrow oval (if you have a round biscuit cutter, could bend it to get oval shape and then cut ovals of cake to stack.) dowel.
lay on the fondant. and detail out. Head, hat, arms, shoes: fondant.
for even more strength:
instead of holes in base...slots cut w/ small hole/plug cutting saw. then a central hole in the circle to accept sharpened dowel that rises from base all they way up through the figure (this would work best w/ cakeboard under cake. -- if using plywood at top of pillars, just drill that piece to accept dowels.
HTH
Here is a link to a site where the lady has done some amazing huge sugar sculptures
http://www.wackyweddingsculptures.co.uk/
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