I am making a 3D R2D2 cake for a grooms cake this weekend and need some help with how I should support it. I was thinking just a larger then normal dowel in the middle with a cake board inbetween each layer. Any other better or more sturdy suggestions would be helpful! I also need help with attaching the arms. I will be making them out of RKT but and unsure of how to properly attach them. Any help would be much appreciated! Thanks so much!
i was planning on putting one larger one in the middle and under each layer of cake there will be a cake board. i really really just need some ideas on how to attach the arms!! thanks.
When I made my son's R2 cake in my pics, I just stacked the 2 6"cakes together with ganache in between then I put the dowels into the top 6". I used the half ball pan for the dome, but it was placed on it's own board. My RKT arms were "glued" on with melted white candy melts. I obviously made a smaller cake, but I think this would work for you.
1 dowel the centre of a cake provides no support whatsoever, imagine a plate balanced on top of a pencil that's in effect what's happening in your cake. I suggest you look at some youtube videos on how to dowel and stack cakes to see in practise how the support system works. Re how many dowels to use - general rule is 1 per 2 inch of cake ie, 8 inch cake has 4 dowels placed in a square pattern to spread the weight of the next cake / board combo. Good luck.
well that is what i usually do but with my wanting to put a cake board inbetween all the layers i didnt think that would be ideal so thats why i was looking for other options. thanks though.
There is no way you can properly support 6 or 7 10" cakes without using dowels every 4 inches of height, as previously suggested. The centre dowel MAY stop the cake falling over, but nothing will stop the cake collapsing in on itself. That is a lot of heavy cake. You need 4 dowels in the first 2 layers, with a cake board on top. Next 2 layers of cake on top of that, with 4 dowels inserted into cake. Another board. Final 2 layers on top of that, with another 4 dowels. You can either hammer your centre dowel in from the top down, or attach it to your base board and drop the cakes and boards over it having previously made holes in the dead centre of your boards.
Attach the arms either side with melted chocolate or royal icing. You could put a dowel through your cake from side to side at the height you need, and attach the arms to the ends sticking out, but bear in mind if your arms are heavy, the dowel may rip through the cake. Glue the arms to the side using as much contact area as possible (i.e. don't just glue at the top of the arms). You will need to support each arm as your chosen "glue" dries enough so it doesn't slip down.
Depending on how much work you want to put in and your level of cake experience... here's what I can picture:
If you want to make him realistic with his body off the ground just supported by legs then you can do a plywood base, with wood supports holding a 10" plywood circle. Stack the cake like normal, add RKT legs and cover the wood supports with them. I would dowel the RKT legs into the cake higher up.
If you want to do a 3 leg with a tilt I was thinking of the same scenerio except you get the added bottom support of his 3rd leg or wheel under the 10" plywood circle. Add a slight tilt and get a 10" cardboard tube from Home Depot, cut it in half (or slightly more) and to the height you need. Cover the inside in saran wrap and drill the bottom edge of the cardboard to the 10" plywood circle.
If you reall want support... drill two 1x3 wood slats for the legs as tall as R2D2's legs are going to go, drill the 10' circle inbetween them, then attach the cardboard half tube to the legs and the 10" circle. Place the cakes in it, and cover it all in fondant.
I know... confusing... but I can picture it in my head. 
Quote by @%username% on %date%
%body%