Can anyone help pleeeese! I have had these issues before and I get so frustrated. I have a problem trying to form a face out of gum paste, or even gum paste mixed with fondant, it cracks....it won't adhere to a wire post to stay up so I can work on it, so the wire goes through the head, and then the face becomes deformed. Help please. I'm sure if I took a lesson or two, I can find the right technique and master this. The gum paste dries so darn fast! I am adding a picture of the last one I did, the face cracked a bit but its hard to see if not close up. But you can see how the chin and back of head settled flat from slipping down wire. thanks!

have a look for the website extra icing, by lorraine mckay - she has tutorials available which are brilliant, very helpful, and not that expensive.
xx

Idea for you is to practice with candy clay or marzipan. Insert your wire after molding the face by twisting the wire back & forth or screwing it in.

In the meantime you could let it set up a bit just stick it on a toothpick stuck into a foam board. So it sits up due to the toothpick but it's resting on the foam so it won't poke through.

But ultimately~~ you want your medium to be able to hold the edge it's resting on. By that I mean --roll a ball and place it on the table--if it flattens then add more stuff so it holds it's shape better, test again.

I had that same question! Ironic. I used 100% gumpaste, stuck a toothpick in the body...let the gumpaste dry a little then attatched it to the body. the head is so thick that it takes a while to completly dry. You can see the end results in my photos. Good luck

I use marshmallow fondant mixed with tylose for figures. Mine dry crack-free, but the reason is because I microwave each separate piece I model.

For a head, I put it in a Tablespoon (first I lay a small piece of plastic wrap across, so it removes easily), and from then on I move it around by the spoon handle, instead of touching the head/face itself to add its features.
After letting it dry awhile, I put it on a toothpick to attach hair.

You can also fill a small bowl with flour, cover with plastic wrap, make a round indent on top, and dry your head in there. It'll help to keep the shape. I read this tip here at CC

By the way...I agree, Lorraine's tutorials are the way to go. She's the BEST!

hi, here is a tutorial also on a face. hth will look for others. i have the heads up tutorial on lorraine's site. extra icing on the cake . co. uk. it is a really good tutorial check it out.


http://vodpod.com/watch/1173841-how-to-make-a-fondantgumpaste-face-for-your-figurine

also found this.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rt05Z8AztUU&feature=related

I purchased 3 tutorials from Lorraine McCay. They helped me alot! Thanks for the recommendations! I still have a problem with cracking The air seems to dry the paste out and it just starts cracking. I must be doing something wrong.

make sure your gumpaste is as good as new. make sure you work fast. and knead it well before using it. maybe a higher ratio of fondant - or try gum trag or cmc i your fondant.
xx

Ok, I am still having problems with my person cake topper. Even after the Lorraine McCay tutorials. Even trying to work fast. What am I doing wrong???? The arm is all wrinkled from the paste drying out and the nose on my person looks attached where I attached it. It didn't just blend in and I worked fast! Please can someone tell me??? I have a picture but I don't know where to post it.

Practice makes perfect too. Try not to be so hard on your self. I have made a couple of figures, and never yet had the nose look as good as Lorraine tutorials!
How much gumpaste have you added to your fondant? Less might help give you the time to set the parts right. Or if you can track down some cmc to add to fondant, it does work really well.
xx

Question: what is cmc?
And can somebody put a link for the tutorial. I am always looking for new things to try.
Thanks!!

I was wondering what "gumpaste" you are using. Is it straight gumpaste, or 50/50 fondant & gumpaste? I took a class with Lorraine McKay and this is the recipe she uses for her modeling paste using fondant with tylose added.

http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=aine2#p/u/16/kQtehRE7VQw

It doesn't dry as quickly as straight gumpaste, but you do still have to work fairly fast with it. HTH

Thank you brincess_b,....I will look into it.
cmc is Tylose...some kind of powder that supposed to help make your fondant more plyable.
The tutorials need to be purchased, but they are not expensive. Go to her site at extraicing.com

There are several tutorials by Lorraine McKay on youtube that I have found very helpful.

One thing that's helped me is to work up from the bottom...do the legs/body first and dry on wire stuck into styrofoam...let that dry a couple days...then the head will have something to support it and the wire will not go out the top of the head.