I'm sure there is a post out there like this but I can't seem to find what I'm looking for.

I am a beginner and tyring to teach myself how to work with fondant and gumpaste. I am currently making a football helmet cake for my brother in law and am having difficulty with the face guard. I measured and cut wire and am molding gumpaste around it. I'm just not sure how to smooth out the creases. Any tips would be greatly appreciated!!!!

Knead a tiny bit of shortening into your gumpaste before you start. It should feel smooth and satiny when it's ready to work with.

Thank you, I have done that. Then I start with the gumpaste in the middle of the wire and roll it outwards around the wire. The problem is that I have to bend the wire to get the form and then I get creases and breaks in the gumpaste and don't know how to smooth them out.

Rub shortening on the cracks. Once you rub them a little they will warm up and the shortening will help smooth everything out and give it a smoother finish too.

You may need to knead it more.......if you roll it in your hands it will warm up from the friction and warmth of your hands and smooth it......do this prior to rolling it out to cover face mask hth

Thanks everyone! I was thinking that maybe it was too soft because it's fine until I bend it and then the ends get smooched and I can't regain the form. I guess I just need to play with it more. I'm just a perfectionist and I guess it's not going to be perfect the first time around.

How fast are you working with it? Air dries out gumpaste and it starts happening pretty fast. The outside layer of it may be drying out before you bend the wire.

I had that problem at first when I didn't realize how fast it dried and it was drying and cracking. Now I have it down a little better where it is OK up until I bend it. The gumpaste is still soft and moist but when I push on it to make a hard right angle turn it gets smooched. I try to smooth it out and reform it but I can't get it as smooth as before since now it is too soft. I let the whole thing dry and tonight I was going to try and redo the ends and see if I can patch up any other imperfections. I'm sure it's just trial and error and I haven't really had that much time or energy after work to really concentrate on it.