Hello Fellow Cakers!

So I am making a Nightmare Before Christmas birthday cake for a friend and I want to make the Jack Skellington figure but I am worried about how thin the figure is and how to get him to stand and not fall.

I am planning on making him out of gumpaste and my questions are:

1. Should I construct him in separate pieces, assemble him together immediately and let him harden?
2. How do I make the thin body, arms and legs without any them breaking?
3. Lastly, how do I get him to stand on the top of the cake without falling over? Since it will be so thin I can't really put a dowel through the center.

Any tips appreciated. Thanks in advance for all your help

I made a Jack Skellington figure for a friend's daughter's birthday.

http://cakecentral.com/gallery/1801648

I used the long bamboo skewers for his legs and left a good 3 inches below to stick into the cake. The top of them went into the body.

I used a strong toothpick, although a piece of the bamboo skewer would work too, to hold his head onto the body.

And I used floral wire to shape his arms. His hands were hard for me, but I kind of made them separately to get the long fingers and then used gum glue to attach them to his arms and the wire.

I didn't colour the gumpaste, but used the black americolor mixed with vodka to paint him.

I'm happy with the way he turned out for a first attempt.