We should be set to produce almost 16 limbers at a total cost of less than $10; this limber took approximately 1 hour to build and paint.

The next series of images include two regiments of Perry plastic miniatures (one with no flag applied yet), created from one of the three sprues included in the box.

Essentially, as we planned it, each box should get us 6 regiments; by mixing the figures together with toys and other manufacturers, we estimate 12-18 six or eight man regiments is possible to be completed within a few months, with appropriate percentages of mounted and dismounted cavalry and artillery.  

That essentially means our venture into ACW 28mm would be completed in time for the game conventions of the fall and into 2011.

While we applaud the Perry work and look forward to more (desperately needing dismounted cavalry and casualties), we did find some issues such as:

• missing straps (objects on body but straps are not molded)
• the officer scabbard is being "held" instead of hanging (to save molding the straps and it is positioned uncomfortably high for the man wearing it)
• the officer is shown with a frock or dress coat which is out of place in this set of figures that are mostly not wearing coats. 
• FAR FAR too many marching figures in this set.  
• No packs; while we know troops would discard packs prior to battle and mostly we don't like seeing the packs, the fact is that at LEAST the marching figures should have packs or, make the packs OPTIONAL.  In this scale, it should be fairly easy to manufacture.
• The rifles: these rifles are molded as if the men are holding 2x4 lumber and they almost look like matchlocks in gerthiness; they are not the thin sticks (which essentially is what muskets are, by comparison to muskets of the 17th century) with barrels on them.  This thickness however is NEEDED because they won't break easily, and not having bayonets fixed is a great idea.  But the fact is the shape of the weapon is wrong.  These guys are carrying Tau rifles.
• And, why not bother sculpting casualties???? AT LEAST one should have been included.

No bare feet, no holes in clothing and pristine hats.

As soon as we get done painting the toys we'll post the pictures here, mixing them with the Perry figures to mask their cheapness while at the same time extending the amount of regiments we can field on a budget.

So far, our total investment is less than $100.  Until the artillery is cheaper, we'll continuing using toys to suffice.  As you can see, the results are MORE than acceptable.

Box.  As our day jobs are machines and manufacturing, you know we simply do NOT understand why these miniature companies don't provide figures in bags of all the same type, so we, as the buying public can buy the figures we want and ONLY what we want, for instance, just sell the HEADS and hats separately, sell the firing guys separately, and even (though we sometimes don't like them) we'd still like to see some kneeling firing and loading guys.

As with our 15mm guys, these bases are all cut from sheets of neoprene rubber which is great to paint, heavy and durable (3/16 inch pref but shown here is 1/4 inch); most importantly, the chemical bonding with plastic is superior to wood or any other kind of base other than acrylic.  Neoprene Rubber sheeting at 3/16 thick is available from McMaster-Carr here in Illinois.  Remember the taller your base the higher the walls and fences have to be so a middle ground of height is needed.

Flag is oversized because it just looks cool.  However, check with your historical references because in fact, the "Confederate Jack" was supposedly not that common.

Gunners? Only a ram rod gunner is provided with a uniform not appearing like a Civil War era; might be Mexican War.

Variety? The advancing guys are best, the firing guys next in quality, followed by the rest.  The marching guys are skinny but tall with weapons that are too long and showing what appears to be a skinny bayonet, making the weapon too tall in appearance.

Painting? Does the paint adhere well to the toys?  Basically you must prime these figures with a clear pre-color spray and that seemed to work best.  We also tried this on a sprue of Perry's and it looks to have worked as well.

Flag holders? Many figures in the blister are only carrying pistols.  Trim the pistol off and use a Dremel to drill a hole for a wire.  It's got to be a tiny drill bit though.

Packs? None of the figures have packs.

Relevance? The figures appear to be something like a mixture of Mexican War with Civil War kepis.  Trim off the epilettes.

Material?  Hard plastic, something like the 54mm plastic in BMC figures so it is somewhat hard to cut without causing a hanging chad.

Perry Rebel Cavalry Unit (What's a unit? Well, it would be silly to refer to an entire stand as a regiment or battalion so we are calling each stand a "unit" which more than likely is going to actually represent a squadron)