AARRGHHH!! Iv just done my first sculpted cake for a 1st birthday party and I'm being paid for it, but now it's finished I just keep seeing things I wish I done differently/better. For example the cake and board were to big to fit in my fridge and I used buttercream so my crumb coat eyx never crusted properly, I found it hard putting fondant on a sculpted cake and ended up doing it on sections which was a messy job, now it's finished the back which is quite tall I starting to lean backwards and is seems to be squashing the bottom and sinking..which in turn is making my fondant sag and bulge which is causin by royal icing detail to break!!!!!!! So many issues.. Please anyone and everyone feel free to give advice on any of the above..am I using wrong sponge or buttercream recipe?? Applyif fondant wrong??!! I'm so disappointed :([IMG]http://cakecentral.com/content/type/61/id/3244308/width/200/height/400[/IMG]

Did you have a cardboard under the high area in the back with dowels in the lower section of cake?  if not, that is why it is sinking, too much weight.  Can you remove the deck house, put in on a board, dowel the lower layer and reset the deck house?

AOh I see, I'm so stupid..It didn't even cross my mind!! Well it's being delivered in the morning so I don't know if I will have time :( ..I think il see what it's like tomorrow and if it fallen apart then il do what you've suggested!! Thank you so much I now know what to do in the future :)

If it is falling apart now, it will likely only be worse tomorrow.  This is a paid cake and should not be falling apart the day before it is due.  If you fix it now you are done with it, you have plenty of time to fix it now and make it right for the customer.  If you wait and it is worse you will probably have to rebake and redo the whole thing since the bottom section will be crushed and crumbled.  If you do it now you can probably save the bottom layer.  Can't you just carefully slice the fondant around the base of the house and lift it off, add the cardboard and dowels and replace it?  You may have to add a tan or yellow rope to cover up the cardboard but it wouldn't look out of place.

AOk you were right..I went back to see if I could do what you suggested and it had already collapsed :( ..iv just taken off all the fondant from the back to reveal a sloppy mess of buttercream.. The actual cake structure is perfect still and so it wasn't that which had collapsed but it seems the buttercream seeped out of the cake and bulged out the icing??!! What's the best thing for me to do now..re apply fondant?!

AMy guess is the weight of the house plus fondant plus details plus figures with no support just squished the icing out. Smooth it back out and then use proper support and reassemble it. I don't use fondant so can't address that specific issue.

By now I'm sure you have already taken care of the problem but here is some advice for the future:

Cake needs support  at least every 4" of height.  Smaller areas of cake (like your ship bridge) - especially those covered with fondant -  need it as much or more than large areas.  Like the other poster said, once you have about 3" of height put some doweling in, and the rest of the height on a piece of cake board.  

AThank you for all the advice :) ..I managed to fix it and the client was really happy!! ..more to the point I have now learned my lesson and will dowel and cardboard in future!!! ..what cardboard do I use inbetween cake layers, is it the same as what you use under the cake??

............what cardboard do I use in between cake layers, is it the same as what you use under the cake??.......

Yes - exactly the same.  Just cut it with an exacto knife

I am so glad that you were able to get it repaired and that the client was happy with it.  You can use any cardboard round, just a single thickness, like what is used on the bottom tier but that probably has several layers to make it stiffer.  I don't trim mine, I use the bit of difference in size from the cardboard to the cake as s pace for the icing.

ANext time you might want to try ganache under the fondant instead of buttercream. Ganache works so much better under the weight of fondant.