Armies In Plastic Heavy Artillery.

Mannie Gentile over at Toy Soldiers Forever has an entry about Armies In Plastic's Civil War Heavy Artillery sets.
Tuesday, October 14, 2008

http://toysoldiersforever.blogspot.com/2008/10/armies-in-plastic-30-pounder-parrott.html

I don't need to add much more other than AIP released  both Union and Confederate sets of Artillery in Frock Coats and Great Coats. Both sets look a little too formal for the Confederates and I added hat heads from AIP's excellent Confederate Infantry with a few heads from their Boer Commando set. I mixed the crews' uniforms and I plan to add gunners in shirt sleeves from AIP's new Colonial Artillery sets by changing the sun helmet heats to kepis and hats.

I want the gunners to do double duty with field pieces. Until AIP release Civil War field artillery, I use their guns from the Royal Artillery in the Napoleonic Wars. They are "close."  I removed the ramrods and replaced them with plastic rod and the ramrod tips from Classic Toy Soldier's artillery. (These were made to match the old MARX guns and are good sturdy toy guns, but don't fit the AIP figures to my eye, but the ramrods do.) The long hand spikes AIP made for their gunners are way off from the real ones. I just cut off the tips for now. Maybe I'll sculpt better ones later. The AIPs gunners also lack the crewman with the lanyard to fire the gun. That's an easy future fix. In the meantime, here are the Confederate Conversions.

I'm not worried about mold elector pin marks on these figures. If you paint them, they can easily be filled. The Frock coated officer has great details and will fit with the Infantry as well North or South.

Later, another look at the gun included with the set.