How Do I Make 3D Fondant/Gumpaste People???? - Page 2

Fabulous information..thanks so much for taking the time and sharing!

I agree with aej6. Now I know why your hair looks so natural. You went to such trouble. Thanks for sharing.

Thanks for the tip could you give an idea how much tylose you use in relation to the fondant?

You're welcome...always happy to share

I don't use a measured amount of tylose...for me, it really depends on how it feels in my hand....that's how I know if it needs more or not.

When it's a small piece of fondant, I push it right into the jar a few times and whatever sticks to it, is the amount.
When it's a larger piece, I sprinkle it in.

(Darker colors require more than lighter shades, in my experience)

Thanks for explaining about the hair! - one thing I don't understand- if you curl them on toothpicks as shown how do you add to the head once dry and create a bit of 'straightness' to the roots? what I mean is, you are curling the full length of extruded fondant but in the picture of the head the top part near her roots is straight - if the curls have set and you try to straighten a bit don't they break (i say this only becuase that is what happened to me when i tried somethign similar)... if they don't set enough the curls just droop and straighten... what am i missing?

And how do you roll the extruded strands? I find I can't keep them uniform and are difficult to handle since they are so thin to begin with?

Thanks for explaining all of this in so much detail and taking pictures!!!

Even though the curls had tylose, they didn't set rock hard...when they came off the toothpicks, they were very strong, but almost springy...I was able to stretch the ones that I felt were too corkscrew-curl and not wave-curl LOL...I did this for alot of the back hair. I didn't think it would look good to have the back pouf-ing out like the sides, so I wanted less curl there.
If you look on the right side of photo 4 you can clearly see a few that have been stretched...their curl was much tighter off the toothpick, and it's not that they wilted, they were stretched. Don't get me wrong, I didn't man-handle them...I just needed to elongate some, and I was able to do so easily.

For the root area, I did stretch that end a little, but what really kept it flat was just wetting the underside, placing it, then holding it down for a bit.

I should add...the strands were not on toothpicks drying for days...I prepared them in the morning and by that evening I tested one or two, liked how they looked and handled, and went to work.

As for rolling...in my experience, the trick to doing it with a smoother is to never let the piece get too long for what it's going to be used on...the longer it is, the harder it is to control. It's much easier to roll three 4" pieces than one 12" piece.
So, once you get near the size you need, cut the rest off...then concentrate on uniformity.
When doing hair, if the cut off piece is a useable size, roll that one too, trying to match the width of the one you just did.

Thanks for the quick reply and the details! Muchly appreciated!

Sugarbakers05, I don't bother measuring my tylose all of the time either, but a good rule of thumb is 1/2 tsp to 1/2 lb of fondant.


ETA: Flourpots very, very cute figure!!

No problem, cloetzu...and Thanks Price!

I thought you guys on this thread would really dig this as much as I do, here's a link to the cutest figure I've ever seen: http://www.flickr.com/photos/craftyconfections/4529046122/

Thanks for the link. Definitely a great figure! I love the face and the dress!

Thanks for posting that up for us visual folks! I'm sure it will be of great help
Wonderful!

Doing mostly wedding cakes, I don't have much experience with figures. Your help is a good jumping off point for me. Thanks for explaining with pics. too!

FlourPots, I've had that little lady of yours saved since I first saw it, knowing I would try to duplicate it some day. I am so excited to see your details. Thank you so much for all the detailed info!!!!!!

You're welcome...

I'm so glad you all find the info useful!