I have gone for economy and speed in assembling a force of larger scale ACW Confederate figures opting for hard plastic. The price is low especially if you can find someone discarding sets. Painting is as fast as I can make it si is somewhat rough.
These are the first metal figures I ever purchased. I bought them to supplement the absence of adequate Confederate cavalry for my set of Airfix American Civil War figures. These are by K & L Thomas who offered an extensive range of figures. They advertised in the hobby magazines I read and had I had more money, I would certainly have purchased more figures. The last entry for them on TMP is listed for 2008 so it is likely the figures are no longer available.
At that time, I had barely enough money for a few boxes of Airfix figures. I had coaxed a friend into purchasing and building his own army and even conceded the far more attractive Union side to him. But his interest soon waned and I found myself without a gaming opponent.
The painting on these figures is what I could muster at that early age. It is not the best but it was good enough. How I could get even this level of detail with the kinds of brushes I had back then I could not guess.