before I cover it with fondant/sugarpaste?

I'm not sure if it's a daft question!  I will eventually be putting my 16" round dummy onto a 20" cake drum to display it but I'm not sure if I should place it on a thin card to 'ice up to'.

Thank you in advance for your advice.

No, you don't need a cake board below a dummy.  Will your 20" drum be iced?

If I am icing a dummy that's to sit on a larger (iced) cake drum I stick the dummy to the drum with royal icing and leave to set, then cover dummy and board all in one.
 

Thank you Suzanne.  Yes, my 20" drum will be iced.  I was trying to avoid doing them both together as I've never covered anything so large before (12" is the largest I've done!)  I'm using Covapaste for the first time which, I gather, is what they use in the trade and should be more forgiving that Tesco's own brand fondant and/or Dr Oetker.  Oh well, I might be brave..... :o)

Thank you for your reply.

Louise

You can certainly cover board and dummy separately and cover the join with ribbon, piped dots etc - whatever fits in with your design.

I have recently been using Covapaste after a horrendous batch of Regalice (always my preferred sugarpaste) and I don't find Covapaste forgiving at all - it is very soft and marks easily and prone to developing massive air bubbles but I know of others who wouldn't use anything else, so we all have different opinions and what works for one doesn't necessarily work for another - hope the Covapaste works for you!
 

Oh dear that sounds dreadful!  Well I'll give it a go and see how I get on.  When you say it's very soft and marks easily, I presume this is when it it's being applied.  Does it harden adequately with time?

I'll be decorating the side of this dummy with a running garland of flowers made from petal paste.  I'll be fixing them individually with royal icing.  I hope this Covapaste is up to the job and doesn't start sliding off under the weight of the flowers!  I think you're right about the odd bad batch.  Tesco own brand seems to fluctuate between hard and soft that's why I preferred Dr Oetker.  Perhaps this should be another thread!

Thanks again for your thoughts.

Covapaste is soft and easily marked when handling, it doesn't harden as firm as Regalice, for example but it does firm up a good bit if left overnight.  Sometimes this can work in your favour, I have removed air bubbles successfully the day after the cake has been covered in Covapaste but I'd prefer a sugarpaste that air bubbles didn't form in the first place - I get very few with Regalice.

The Covapaste certainly shouldn't slide off when you put the flowers on anyway!
 

Thanks for all your comments Suzanne, you've been very helpful.  I've now got to prepare the dining table to roll out this stuff as my kitchen surface is not big enough!

Happy Caking :o)

Louise

AI have made a rich fruit cake. I am going to put a dummy next and then a polystyrene circle. Then another dummie . Do I need thin cards under the dummies. also do I use dowels through the dummies to keep them inplace. Plesse help me.