I am doing a 4 tiered cake.  Gold drip on each tier.  Using SMBC.

Question - has anyone tried using just straight candy melts, then painting gold?  How long does it take to set where you can paint it?

I don't want to use ganache and not have it set up enough where I can't paint it.

I've used candy melts, just thinned down with a little shortening, and it was just fine. I didn't paint mine, but I saw a tutorial on a gold drip and she used candy melts, placed the cake in the fridge for 10 minutes, then she painted the gold on. 

I've used candy melts for the drip once and it clumped up at the top. Was a disaster for me. Lol