Not knowing what scale you want does complicate matters a bit. However, Amazon sells a wide variety of styrene plastic civilian figures that should suit your requirements.
"150 Pcs Mini People Figurines 1:150 Scale Architectural Painted Tiny People Model Sitting and Standing Plastic Miniature People Assorted Poses Model Trains for Miniature Scenes
Brand: Harrycle"
Go to Amazon and search for these figures. They come in a lot of different scales. They are already painted, very poorly, but you can over-paint them with no loss of detail. They are late 20th Century figures but by painting them you should be able to get what you want out of them. I have done conversions on the women in pants to make dresses, just wrap them in aluminum foil and glue it on with superglue.
They are sold by several different companies and prices vary, but are really cheap and if you are doing 3,000 people for the Titanic cheap is your friend.
A couple other conversion tips, cut them in half and swap upper and lower bodies to get more poses. Swap heads to make ships crew, whittle their existing hats into other styles. Cut the cane off the old guy, cut down the tummy on the fat guy, even just bend the arms a little.
Regular model glue works great.
Use Evergreen Models sheet plastic Tile to cut little bases for them quickly and easily.
I look forward to the photos.
Bunkermeister
