Hi my friend is having a small gathering and asked me if i could make a pit bull sculpture cake, i was wondering if anyone has and helpful links tips etc on doing this. am pretty good at sculpting however never applied it to a cake. how would i hold up the head.what would be the best material to work with ? sculpting chocolate or fondant? 

I'm a hobby baker and by no means an expert. My first 3D cake was a Cheetah Cake I made for my grandaughter. I used a small ball pan for the head and used fat bubble straws to attach to the body. The cake was all buttercream and held up very well for a 30 min drive to the venue. Others use rice crispy treats for heads, weight issue. Most use ganache and fondant, better stability, but since my cake was for the kids and I was new to fondant at the time i stuck with BC. Lovely Tutorials have excellent instructions and pintrest. Here's a link to a talented CCer, HTH

http://www.cakecentral.com/gallery/i/2306056/3d-dog-cake

Here's a look inside the Cheetah Cake, sitting on all fours.

http://www.cakecentral.com/gallery/i/3341361/cheetah-cake

In terms of carving the cake. I used serrated knives, I bought 2 sizes ( 1 small/ 1 medium) by KUNN RIKON. I use these exclusively for carving now, they were great. Crumb Coat and Carve your cake cold ( I left mine overnight in the fridge), a little at a time, its easier to subtract than to add. That said I did mess up the nose and had to do some patch work, but you could not tell. Just stuck some cake scraps with BC. Like I said I'm not a professional, there are very realistic cakes covered in fondant and airbrushed. Gotta get me one of those. I would love to see the finished cake. Good Luck.

Look at this video of this dog cake being carved out. It's in fast forward but it's pretty useful and free! 

Thank u so much! i love ur cheetah :) The dog am to do is a pit bull Bully which are very muscular therefore i think the pit bull should be standing! and am not sure how to construct a solid base for the pit to hold up. Do u have any suggestions on that? if not i would probably make him sitting on his back legs but even then the chest would stick out and i fear the cake will collapse.  

With the right support, it should not collapse.

Also found this photo slideshow on a standing poodle:

Thanks. Hmmm standing....... you would need to build a special support / frame for the body (which would be the cake) the legs would be rice kripsie treats. Think of a small table like structure, the body would sit on the table top, the belly and legs would be RTK. The frame would be screwed into  (via the legs) to a masonite board. Does that make sense?  The head would be RKT too i think,weight issues. Someone on here did a diagram for a  goblet cake, similar concept for a top heavy cake. Jason or Dough I think.

As for the sitting on hind legs, screw a wooden dowel ( the height so you can attach the head also) into a masonite board, place your layers through, use foam core cake boards for every 3 layers. That's what I did for a bottle cake. Fondant over a thin layer of BC. It held up no problem including a 45 min drive to venue.

Here is the link, apply that idea to 4 legs.  Thanks Doug!!!! HTH

http://www.cakecentral.com/gallery/i/1420084/wine-glass-cake

carolinecakes  OMG i understand perfectly thank you!

MinaBakes  Thank you soon much!

Both of you have been of the up most help I can hug you both :) 

OK! WHAT CAN I USE TO MAKE THE DOG FUR? PIT BULLS ARE NOT FLUFFY SO WHAT SUGGESTIONS DO YOU LADIES HAVE?

Here's a link

http://www.craftsy.com/blog/2013/08/best-methods-for-applying-fur-texture/