My Father-in-Law is turning 70 this month. My MIL asked me to make his cake. I have never sculpted a cake before, but I would like to make a replica of his 1937 Ford coupe. Photo attached. It is a metallic blue with gold "ghost flames".

Ummm...sounds great, right? Except I have no clue how to make it actually look like that car, both shape-wise and color wise (with depth). Soooooo, I need tips for:

1. Getting the actual shape of the car just right
2. Airbrushing it correctly. Oh yeah...I have never airbrushed before, either. I'm an ambitous little monkey, aren't I?

Thanks for any tips/info!

I do not know that much about 3 D cakes, except I was told to make them out of sponge cake/dense cake to be able to sculpt. I would probably start with a bread loaf pan to get the initial shape of this car and add cake to it if needed.

I have seen cars done on Ace of Cakes and they usually cover them in black fondant to help with the look of the windows. Other than that, I do not know how else to help.

Good Luck

This is the site that I found very helpful for the carving:
http://en.petitchef.com/recipes/how-to-make-a-3d-car-cake-fid-314902

I used their techniques when I carved my Lightning McQueen cake. As for airbrushing - I've only done it once, and it was a solid color - no "special effects" as I have no clue how to paint with the air brush!

Although - I did make the lightning bolt on the side of the car out of gumpaste and airbrushed it in two tones - yellow and red and then outlined in black edible marker. That's about as fancy as I get with the air brush!

I like to get pictures from all sides if possible. Then, I measure the car on my computer screen and scale up accordingly for the cake. (I find this helps me keep the car to scale - ie, the hood the right size, the doors the right size and the trunk the right size, etc.) I agree with dldbrou, use a dense cake. WASC is good for me. Having never airbrushed before, I'd suggest you buy some lustre dust. It may be easier to make dark blue fondant and then brush with a shiny/metallic dust. Good luck.

Thanks, guys! Great tips. I always make the Durable Wedding Cake from this site (awesome), so I think that would probably work. I did try sort of carving it once and it didn't work so well, but I think this time I will freeze them well first before carving.

Great idea about measuring on screen. That website looks helpful, too. I'll take a closer look at that. Thanks!

Find a model car or a hot wheel car in this style - it may help to have a 3d version in front of you!

Do you have an airbrush? If so, I would start with a blue fondant and then airbrush over that to get the darker shade. Go slowly and use many many layers letting each one dry completely.

As for the gold flames, I would hand paint them on with the gold lustre dust mixed with EverClear, Lemon Extract or Vodka. Use a very fine brush. Same with the silver hubcaps and chrome trim on the front.

A light dusting of pearl when it's done will give it that metalic look I would think.

Can't wait to see pictures when you're done!

I would make a paper/cardboard template of the side view of the car. You could even make one for each side. place them against the cake, then carve the basic shape. From there, carve small bits till you perfect the shape.

I like that Durable cake recipe as well.

I do what Lcubed82 mentioned. I have a cardboard template of each side, front, drivers side, back and then passenger side (obviously the sides would be the same!). Then I start on one side, holding the template up and carve around it, then move to the next side, etc. You're left with the basic shape of the car, and then would need to carve in the windshield slant, wheel wells, etc. HTH!

When I made my corvette car I found a blueprint of it and printed them out to the size of the cake I wanted to make. I just searched for blueprints on the make of car you are looking for and found this website.
http://kit-car.org/Hot-rod-blueprint.html

Also here is some info on a post I made in the past with some helpful links to carving the car.
http://cakecentral.com/cake-decorating-ftopict-692519-car.html+automobile

Good luck and your father's car is beautiful.

Mike McCrary has an EXCELLENT DVD on making a 3D car. He uses templates from a internet website. I HIGHLY recommend getting that DVD and watching it. Order it from Mike's Amazing Cakes.

Does anyone have a site for motorcylces???

If you are steady with the freehand,id do as MissLisa said with the flame detail but if you are anything like me and have the shakiest hands id advise using a template and stenciling the flames using the luster dust and alcohol.

Thanks so much, you guys. And thanks, Jaime, for the compliment on his car. He built it from the ground up, and is very proud of it.

I think I am going to buy my airbrush tonight. I'll practice with it a bit and if I can't get the hang of it then I'll just go with blue fondant.

I'll post pics if I'm not too embarassed of how it turns out. LOL!

I have no idea sorry, have never airbrushed or done a 3D before, but I am so excited for you and Im sure you will pull it off and he will love it! Dont forget to post pics and good luck!

Definitely make the wheels from RKT! Smush the treats firmly in your hands to crush the krispies and make it more dense. Shape into a circle, or roll out to the proper thickness and cut out with a round cookie cutter. Cover with black fondant.

You could insert a short dowel into the back of the tire before covering in fondant. The dowel will be inserted into the cake and help the wheel stay in place.

Make a separate fondant disc for the hubcaps and paint with silver petal dust mixed with vodka or lemon extract.

Okay, follow up question --

I have very little black fondant left over from a prior project, and none of the stores near me stock it. They all have to special order it. There won't be any time for me to order it online, since the party is this Saturday.

Whenever I try to make my own black fondant it always comes out an ugly gray. How much black food coloring do I have to add to actually get black?

Does Americolor make a black coloring for airbrushes, and do you think Michael's would carry it? That might be easier for me.

Thanks!

I believe Americolor does make a black airbrush color, No Michael's doesn't carry Americolor Airbursh color.

If you have a coupon perhaps you could buy some of Duff's black fondant if Michael's is your only option.

How long are you letting the color set in the fonant? It will darken over 24hrs (so if you end after kneeding with a dark grey it may become black overnight). If you make MMF and add black color to the melted MM's before adding the PS you can get a truer black.