This was my first sculptured cake for a 50th birthday party. They were having an authentic Italian cruise, and the wife of the birthday boy requested a giant gondola to serve 126 people! To cut down on size, I constructed houses to line the "canal". The gondola was 27 inches in length, 12 inches across. Both houses and gondola were covered in choco-pan. Fondant decorations on the houses, royal icing painted gold and gumpaste decorative piece on the front of the boat. Gondolier has the head of the B-day boy.