Ideas for switching helmets on Primaris (beaky/reiverskull?)

[infyrana]

I'm looking for ideas on switching my Primaris Intercessor and possibly my Bladeguard helmets out with something different.  I'm planning on using them with my Deathwatch as well as an all Primaris Raven Guard list.  Initially I felt that switching to Reiver skull helmets, however they aren't too easy to get ahold of at this moment and I've only a few spare to use, another option is the MkVII beaky helmet which fits in well with Raven Guard, but I wasn't sure if they looked good on primaris units as a whole.

 

For the Phobos units I will probably leave their specialist helmets alone.  The Gravis units on the other hand could be in for a swap - I'm up for suggestions!

 

So if anyone has any idas or examples they would like to share, I would be very grateful - thank you!

[Slave to Darkness]

Dammit I threw out a baggy of Reiver skull helms a friend left at mine a few weeks ago, this is why I hate throwing things away. 

[Ryltar Thamior]

I've used a whole array of different helms on my mk.x armoured miniatures - not a single one has an actual mk.x helm. Alpha Legion upgrade helms and Tartaros terminator helmets are a favourite, although while perhaps not quite right for your theme, White Scar Mk.II has also been pretty legit for me. And, now taht I think about it, the Iron Warriors Mk.II and IV . I've also got a few Mk.IIIs in there - and even some Iron Warriors Siege Terminator helms . 

The main issue you're going to find is that the mountings for Marine helms are a bit different for those for Mk.X - the necks are slightly different depths [not that that's hard to fix], and the armoured collars can restrict just how easily you can turn a Mk.VII helm [Mk. VIII probably shouldn't have this problem] - or for that matter, a Mk.VI. I *think* the Raven Guard Primaris Mk.VI helms may get around this somehow, although I'm not sure. 

[Spyros]

Here are some minor switches I did. I went only for knightly helmets (like the Blageguard's), not Mk.7 or Mk.6

 

 

 

[Xenith]

Dammit I threw out a baggy of Reiver skull helms a friend left at mine a few weeks ago, this is why I hate throwing things away. 

*Reaches through screen and slaps you* Why damnit, those are some grade A sought after bits!

 

I'm looking for ideas on switching my Primaris Intercessor and possibly my Bladeguard helmets out with something different.  I'm planning on using them with my Deathwatch as well as an all Primaris Raven Guard list.  Initially I felt that switching to Reiver skull helmets, however they aren't too easy to get ahold of at this moment and I've only a few spare to use, another option is the MkVII beaky helmet which fits in well with Raven Guard, but I wasn't sure if they looked good on primaris units as a whole.

 

For the Phobos units I will probably leave their specialist helmets alone.  The Gravis units on the other hand could be in for a swap - I'm up for suggestions!

 

So if anyone has any idas or examples they would like to share, I would be very grateful - thank you!

 

a 3mm magnet in the neck hole and the neck on the helmet works for me, though 2mm might work better/be easier. You can even rotate the heads to face whatever they're looking at. Maybe even up/down if you use a ball bearing in the neck. 

[infyrana]

@Slave to Darkness  Oh man, that's so sad ! :(  Hopefully you'll get a chance to paint a model for the Emperor and redeem yourself :D  As do I, I recently had the chance to trade a bunch of stuff in which was great, but I still have bits n pieces all over the place that never get used.

@Ryltar Thamior  Would like to see that!  White Scar helmets are interesting, but not my thing and I have to admit after the tiny Death Guard helmets FW made, I've steered clear from their heads.  Interesting point, thanks, I will have to compare the Primaris neck sections for the RG sprue and kit heads versus the non-Primaris versions to see how things fit.

@Spyros  Great stuff, I like it :) ... if I were doing Imperial Fists or Black Templars I would be all over those knight helmets like a super primer!  Taking a good look, I think they won't give me the look I was going for with RG.

@Xenith  Yeah for sure, I've toyed with the idea of using magnets so I can put something else on if I find a better solution.  I'm a bit worried to get the angles wrong, that they would look funny after settling the magnets in place compared to gluing into position.

I saw a post by @ranulf the revenant of his Space Wolf intercessor with the Reiver helmet, looks great, but I do worry that his comment rings true - "everyone seems to use it in conversions" and that I would feel like being on the band wagon.

So please keep up the ideas, I'm very interested in hearing :)

[Jaipii]

I am replacing the helmets for my Raven Guard Primaris Bladeguards with the following bits:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/174495633369

I live in Europe so not sure how viable this option is for someone living in North America, but dang they look nice!

[infyrana]

Thanks for this suggestion, I've no idea either, but for just the cost of shipping to the UK it's actually cheaper for me to buy the source STL and print them! I look forward to seeing your RG BGV painted up with that helmet :)

 

I found a few I like, but can find no painted examples to really see how they look. I might have to make a mixed unit and pop some paint on.

[Karhedron]

I have done a variety of Primaris head swaps, particularly with the Indomitus Marines. Bare heads and Mk7 are easy as they do not protrude beyond the collar. Ones with longer "noses" are a bit trickier to get right but not impossible.

[Xenith]

I have done a variety of Primaris head swaps, particularly with the Indomitus Marines. Bare heads and Mk7 are easy as they do not protrude beyond the collar. Ones with longer "noses" are a bit trickier to get right but not impossible.

That helmet always makes me laugh, it's like the sculptor forgot where eyes are.

[Karhedron]

That helmet always makes me laugh, it's like the sculptor forgot where eyes are.

Given that Marines don't need to directly peer through the lenses, I am happy to let this one pass under rule-of-cool.

[Jaipii]

I painted one helmet for your reference ;) The beaky helmet from eBay Forges of Mars.

The surface was pretty rough and had to be sanded (fine wet sandpaper) to make it smooth. I only noticed this after I had already primed the bits with black, so had to do another priming after sandpaper. They look really cool on my Bladeguards. Knightly and Raveny ;)

[infyrana]

@Jaipii  That does look good I admit, thank you!  Checked again the ones I can get from the STL's and there is some subtle differences, so I'm still debating.  That's interesting you say that about the surface, I've yet to paint the stuff I've done in resin so I'll be interested to see how mine turn out.  I did find something else somewhat similar, but it has more of a general grievous look to it - I need to do as you've done and paint it up to find out.

[infyrana]

Quick update, though I'm not 100% convinced by the scale I've set them to, I've 'popped' some helmets in place for review.

 

 

I was thinking to use the original BGV helmets but my split purchase saw me with a helmet missing.  I figured I might as well slap skulls on the lot of em, but I think they could be a bit small for Gravis models (untested) and yet to test the alternative I had in mind.  I'll probably keep the original helmets for the Librarian and Infiltrators though.

[Jaipii]

I think the scale looks ok (though I might have a bias towards smaller than bigger heads ). A closeup of a model would be nice!

Edited March 19, 2021 by Jaipii

[apologist]

Trimming the collar down or away is a nice way to open up further options. 

 

 

 

The beakie helm on the Raven Guard upgrade kit is set further back, and works with the collar in place:

[infyrana]

I think the scale looks ok (though I might have a bias towards smaller than bigger heads ). A closeup of a model would be nice!

 

Not exactly a close up, but I at least made them the same colour.  I tried a slightly different method of prepping my primer and the finish came out very nicely (smooth and thin) without a single clogging issue!  Then I attempted some Zenithal highlighting with two shades of grey then a white .... which the white proceeded to fail miserably by spitting everywhere.  I won't bother with the white next time as I couldn't reduce the spitting enough for this purpose. so I'll just use lighter greys or try different thinning methods to smooth it out.  My lighting isn't the best, but I didn't realise how bad the spitting effect was until I took the picture lol.

 

Once I've tested the Scale75 black that came in the post (hoping it'll cover the spitting and work with the highlights), I'll try to take a better pic so the skull helm shows better for review.

 

 

@apologist  Great stuff, I like the collars so those options aren't viable for me, but the RG beakie has been an option.  I think having so many firstborns with a beakie I wanted to keep them individual from the Primaris.  However, I am still undecided with the head choice for my Gravis models.

[Guest Triszin]

I painted one helmet for your reference The beaky helmet from eBay Forges of Mars.

The surface was pretty rough and had to be sanded (fine wet sandpaper) to make it smooth. I only noticed this after I had already primed the bits with black, so had to do another priming after sandpaper. They look really cool on my Bladeguards. Knightly and Raveny

those are ace

[Guest]

I'm looking for ideas on switching my Primaris Intercessor and possibly my Bladeguard helmets out with something different.  I'm planning on using them with my Deathwatch as well as an all Primaris Raven Guard list.  Initially I felt that switching to Reiver skull helmets, however they aren't too easy to get ahold of at this moment and I've only a few spare to use, another option is the MkVII beaky helmet which fits in well with Raven Guard, but I wasn't sure if they looked good on primaris units as a whole.

 

For the Phobos units I will probably leave their specialist helmets alone.  The Gravis units on the other hand could be in for a swap - I'm up for suggestions!

 

So if anyone has any idas or examples they would like to share, I would be very grateful - thank you!

Skull Beakies

 

Might help.

[infyrana]

Skull Beakies

 

Might help.

 

Nice cheers!  I've been using all the free STL's up to now, of which this sadly wasn't one of them.  However, I can buy all 60 variants as STL's pretty cheap and they're for both Primaris and Firstborn - so useful either way.  Just a case of finding some examples to sell me on them first (normally beakies do look kinda weird on aggressors), wish people would have a place to post up images to help choose.

[deathspectersgt7]

Somebody beat me to it. Have them they look great on Primaris Raven Guard.

[infyrana]

Somebody beat me to it. Have them they look great on Primaris Raven Guard.

The skull beakies? Do you have examples please? Was considering their use for gravis models and maybe assault intercessors, I think beakies on the narrow ankle armour of phobos look a little bit odd but minds can be changed!

[ranulf the revenant]

Puppetswar has lots of variants of the skull type helmet. This is the most generic one, but there are many more. https://puppetswar.eu/reaper-helmets.html

[deathspectersgt7]

 

Somebody beat me to it. Have them they look great on Primaris Raven Guard.

The skull beakies? Do you have examples please? Was considering their use for gravis models and maybe assault intercessors, I think beakies on the narrow ankle armour of phobos look a little bit odd but minds can be changed!

[deathspectersgt7]

 

Somebody beat me to it. Have them they look great on Primaris Raven Guard.

The skull beakies? Do you have examples please? Was considering their use for gravis models and maybe assault intercessors, I think beakies on the narrow ankle armour of phobos look a little bit odd but minds can be changed!

have no camera yet sorry but they do go well with the assault Intercessors .have not tried on Gravis