I have been trying to add various scroll designs to the sides of my cakes, but the icing is going on flat and with air holes. I am using a butter cream frosting recipe that calls for high-ratio shortening instead of butter. Does any one have advice on how to get the scroll work smooth and less flat? Could my icing recipe be part of the problem?
Thanks in advance.
Which tip are you using? Is your icing thick enough? too thick?
I'm not sure how you would go about getting the air out of the icing, but I know that can be troublesome when piping intricate designs...
Interested to hear other opinions...sorry I'm not much help! 
I'm a newbie so I'm not much on experience, but I've been reading these forums and some say if you beat the buttercream too much you get air bubbles.
And I totally disagree with that. I consider it an old wives tale. THe longer I beat my icing, the better it gets. The more I beat it, the more I pulverize the fat, reducing the particles of fat down to nothing. Sharon's video, which is a great video on making icing, shows about 8-10 minutes of running the mixer (if I'm remembering the video correctly .... anyone, please correct me if I'm recalling this wrong).
I'll even turn on my mixer and walk away to do other stuff, letting the mixer run for anywhere from 5 to 15 minutes.
If you use a whip and "whip" things up (like merinque?), then I can see "whipping" air into something. But icing? I like to pulverize that stuff to make sure it's all blended smooth ... no particles of fat to create air tunnels when spreading the icing.
When filling my icing bags, I'll use my spatula to even 'beat' the icing a few strokes to make it even MORE smooth before filing the bag.
To me .... no such thing as overbeating icing.
My scroll lines are flat because I believe I have the tip to close to the cake. I think I inadvertently do that because the icing may be to stiff and I have to squeeze hard. Currently I mix the icing for 20 minutes and it feels light. I also find that I get air holes in the icing so I thought I might be mixing it too long.
Now that I see part of the problem is technique, are there any suggestions for smoother lines and lighter icing? Should I mix the icing a little longer?
Thanks.
If it is too stiff, add a little more liquid. It is tricky to do scrolls, especially on the side of the cake. A hair to close and the scroll is flattened and a hair to far away and it drops off the cake. One thing- if your scrolls are a little flat, no one will notice it except you. Stand even 2 feet away and it can't be seen if that helps! When I do them, before it crusts I take a little dry paint brush and tidy the lines up. You can nudge the line in place, take care of any points, tidy up where there was a break in the piping, etc. Some people have posted about adding piping gel or corn syrup to their BC to help with scrolls, I have not done it myself though. Denette
It is tricky to do scrolls, especially on the side of the cake.
A neat trick is to elevate one side of your turntable. I put a folded towel under the side closest to me. Put a piece of no-skid material on the turntable, under your cake. As you turn the cake, the side facing you will always be at a slight upward angel .... just enough to help keep those scroll lines in place! 
My mom actually gave me a Tilt Turntable and it is the best thing in the world for trying to do intricate designs on the side of a cake. It keeps my wrist in the correct position and it is so much easier!! It has a non-slip rubber covering and you can tilt it at 2 different angles. I absolutely love it!!
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