strands of hair and twist them together, make three for each side of the head and arrange them together. Add a ribbon to finish by rolling a small white sausage shape.
Head and Body Shapes
As you can see from the image shown below, if a body has no neck, then the neck will be modelled with the head, and likewise, if the head has a neck, then the body will be modelled without one.
Hands and Feet
When making an arm, first roll a sausage with rounded ends. Narrow the wrist area by rolling it gently, and then narrow just above the elbow. Make a diagonal cut at the top of the arm to fit the body shape. Flatten the hand end to look like a wooden spoon.
Making Clothes
How you dress your characters is the final statement of their personality. Here I will show you how to make a pair of dungarees and a dress, both of which are very simple. With any clothing, you have to tailor it to the size of the body you are dressing, making sure the garments fit from side to side and from top to bottom.
Shoes and Hats
Accessories such as hats and shoes are great fun to make. It is these little finishing touches that add to the charm of your finished character. Now you have lots of inspiration to create your own characters with bags of personality!
Girl’s red shoe with separate sole, strap, button detail and socks – use dry spaghetti to attach directly to end of leg
Pink slipper with pretty white bow – inside hollowed out with tool no.1 for the leg to be slipped inside
Blue boot with red heart tie – the top is hollowed out just wide enough to fit the leg
Black and white sports shoe with tongue and laces – again, inside hollowed out so the leg can sit inside
Bobble hat – formed from a cone of sugarpaste hollowed out with fingers to fit the head. Decorated with bands, stripes and furry bobbles extruded through a sugar press (or garlic press)
Cap – formed from a ball of sugarpaste, slightly flattened with a finger with a peak attached. Finished with a ball on the top and a contrasting trim around the peak
Sun hat – made by mixing three or four different shades together to form a ball and flattening the top with a finger. A circle was cut out for the brim and attached to the head
Creating Animal Characters
Using the basic shapes as a starting point (see page 15), you can create a vast selection of different animals full of personality and charm. Each project gives detailed instructions for creating the featured characters, but here is a sample of some additional animals with advice on how to model them. Use these examples to practise and hone your modelling skills before you launch into the cake projects.
Mouse
Mice are well known for causing trouble and can be great characters to have on a cake. They come in many sizes and shapes, but all have shared characteristics. The shorter the nose the cuter the mouse will look; if it gets too long it will start to look more like a rat. Three basic shapes are needed: ball, cone and oval.
Hair – three long tapered cone shapes
Monkey
This cheeky money is almost the same as the mouse, but we make him with balls of different sizes. His tuft of hair at the top makes him look really cute. He can be made using eight balls and sausage shapes for the eyebrows.
Lion
The lion is, of course, the King of the jungle, but my lion has such a sweet innocent look, he couldn’t harm anyone. He is made from six balls, plus one large and one small cone shape.
Rabbit
This happy-go-lucky countryside resident is always ready for his next meal. He is full of character with his cross-eyed look and long ears. His eyes are close together and he has a distinctive goofy smile. He is made using eight cone shapes, five balls and four ovals.
Elephant
Every part of this huge animal is thick, fat and round. You could give him all sorts of expressions but this one is my favourite. The head is formed from a large cone, and then you pull out the trunk and continue to shape the face. The ears are made from oval shapes.
Crow
What a classic cartoon character this bird is. The construction of the head is very simple, using three cone shapes, two circles and four balls, plus a few feathers.
Dog
I couldn’t complete a book without including my favourite Old English sheepdog. He never fails to enchant, with a simple tussled head that makes him irresistible. He is made using a cone shape for the head, flattened at the front, and simply covered in a sunburst of tapered cone shapes.
Before you can get on to the business of decorating your cake, first
