The great thing about Perry Miniatures is that (hopefully by design and not by fault) you get forty figures that you can put into marching position as opposed to some sets by other manufactures that suffer from the "Airfix problem" of having four standing, four marching and four doing gymnastics if you know what I mean. As for uniformity of the Federal troops - yes sure some where dressed all fancy like but a week or two in the field and you can be sure the troops will wear what is practical for the individual. Search for the youtube video of the Iron Brigade arrives and look at the head gear on display. I mix a few guys from the confederate box into the ranks of the Union regiments. In particular the confederate command figure is perfect for a Union commander is you swap the arms out or just plain paint him blue.
Sorry, I did not paint my flags. They are the paper flags included in the box set. I could not do the detail the flags have! There are businesses that do sell the flags however.