So I'm making my first fondant figure who will stand on top of the cake. So I've got some questions, first how many days in advance should I make it? Do I need to put dowels, sticks or something to help it stand up? Do/can I use just fondant? I"m making a darth vader so I was planning to buy the already colored stuff. I've see in previous post that people use gumtex in their fondant. I'm new to fondant, so I don't even know what that is, lol. Is it somthing I should use... ANy and all tips and suggestions I'd appreciate.

Hi,

I make my figures at least a week ahead of time bc I dont want to have to rush at the last minute and it also allows room for mishaps Majority of all of my figures are made out of RKTs then covered in fonadnt. But, i have made some just out of fondant or 50/50 mix.

I have also used dowels in my figures to help with them being a topper BUT i always just make my figures and either attach to top of cake using a cardboard cut to the figure for more support then attach with chocolate ot if the figure isnt heavy just attach with chocolate or royal icing.

If I'm correct Gumtex is used to make fondant act pilable like gumpaste? I dont use it so, mb someone else can answer that one for you.

I always use skewers for my stand ups. They are food safe and long enough to be securely attached to the item and cake. I sandwich them in between mirror objects because I don't want to see the support from the back. With Darth Vader you can hide the supports under his clothes. Make sure you use more than one skewer (or whatever your support is) so the object doesn't spin around. I recently made designs using only fondant (Wilton's) and they dried harder than I wanted them to overnight. I usually add gumpaste if I want them hard. You only need a small amount. HTH