I have only done small fondant and gumpaste figures for my cakes so far that have required minimal to no support. I want to do a dragon figure for a friend's birthday. It will be climbing the side of a small 2 tier cake. The plan is to make an internal structure, cover with rice krispies, coat with candy melts or buttercream and then cover with fondant. As I have never attempted this complicated a design I was hoping some of you more experienced decorators could offer tips or advice or perhaps point me towards some tutorials you have found helpful. I have done a lot of googling and have found some helpful info, but hearing from experienced decorators is always the best resource (followed closely by personal trial and error of course). Thanks!

I think your plan sounds good, I would probably cover the rkt in modeling chocolate instead of buttercream and fondant. But I live in a place with a lot of humidity and would be worried about the buttercream siding off the rkt. Having a good structure to start with will save you a lot of stress in the long run!!

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AModeling chocolate is nice because it helps to cover seems, it blends nicely, and you can build on it. I would suggest making the wings separate with their own supports, let them dry then attach with some chocolate. I just found a tutorial the other day, they're for smaller dragons but it would give you an idea.

Ahttp://vale-cooking-and-fun.blogspot.de/2012/05/how-to-make-dragon-anleitung-zucker.html

Thanks so much for the advice! Yes I was planning to build the body, wings and head separately since they will each need their own detail work. So excited to give this a try!

Post pictures when you finish! It sounds like a really cool design!! :)

Well, we'll call this one a "live and learn" cake. I decided not to make an internal frame since the dragon was actually going to be relatively small. The big lesson was making figures that have to conform to a cake size and shape ahead of time did not work form me. I used cake dummies the same size as the planned cake, but of course after trimming, filling and icing the real cake, it was definitely not the same size as the dummies. But my friend loved the cake, it didn't fall apart, and tasted great, so I am not complaining too much. Thanks for all of your advice! (Took the pics with my cell, so the color is not great)