I have been collecting Chris' figures since they first came out a year or so ago. I have bought most all of these figures with the intention of converting them to Mexican-American War infantry and artillery. Uniforms and equipage for both periods are amazingly similar. In fact, at this scale, it is very difficult to tell them apart save for headgear. Chris' figures are easily adapted. I strongly recommend using Confederates in shell jackets for this purpose. Sack coats were not worn in the Mexican-American War. The figures with slouch hats can be left mostly "as is" and painted with the appropriate light blue fatigue uniforms of the period. Those with kepis can be easily converted by the application of a small amount of green modelers putty to the top of the hat. Use a putty knife of the back side of your finger nail (some cleanup will be required) to press down the top of the dollop. You should wait approximately two minutes before doing so. This allows for the outside to dry slightly so it won't simply stick to the back of your knife or finger nail. If you wish, you can remove the top portion of the Kepi before you do so. I have done it both ways and they both work fine. This gives the varied look of troops on campaign with hats issued from many sources. Once dry, simply use a file or fine grain sand paper to shape the hat to its desired size. Voila, you have an American Regular Soldier circa 1847. I have also converted the artillerist using the exact same method. Again, use figures in shell jackets and not sack coats. One other detail should be mentioned here. Chevrons of the period pointed up and not down as in the American Civil War. Simply file these away where necessary. It take only a few moments. This method can be used with Foundry and Old Gloiy as well. The line of figures by Redoubt have separate heads. Yes, one of them is the Mexican War style hat called a "Puffball" by this company. This is even easier to do as one simply has to glue on the heads. Chris Hughes is very talented. These figures are spectacular. They are animated in realistic poses. I have many photos of reenactors, being one myself. The posture of men on a Civil is driven by the equipment they carry. Chris has obviously taken time to observe this before he sculpted his figures. These men look as if they walked off a battlefield and on to your painting table. I recommend them with full confidence. Conclusion As you can see from these photos there are endless possibilities for your ACW figures. If you are interested in Boer War, they will work well for this period as well. I recommend Confederate Mounted Cavalry in Slouch Hats of some sort if that is your plan. Any of the lines mentioned in this article will work well. The new figures from Sash and Saber are terrific for this purpose. They currently also have an extensive line of Napoleonics covering Austrian, Russian and French. We will review these figures in a later article. Good luck painting your new figures. If you decide to try and convert them to Mexican - American War and need some tips, feel free to contact me. (ACWBill@aol.com) Sash & Saber Castings 119 Dublin Rd. Raleigh, NC 27609 Back to Rebel Yell No. 18 Table of Contents Back to Rebel Yell List of Issues Back to Master Magazine List © Copyright 2001 by HMGS South This article appears in MagWeb (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other military history articles and gaming articles are available at http://www.magweb.com