Miniatures Review: Steam Knight Helmets

Steam Knight Helmets
Manufacturer: Maxmini
Scale: Heroic 28mm
Material: Resin
Price: $7.46 for 10 heads
Get Them Here: Maxmini

For all the vitriol people spew towards Games Workshop, their Space Marine models are a perfect canvas for science fiction conversions. The “Space Marine” archetype was not created by Games Workshop, but they have certainly done a lot to popularize the thick limbed, small head, bulky armor aesthetic. One of the most common conversions when I was an active 40k player was swapping the helmeted Space Marine head for a helmetless Chaos Marauder head. I longed for more options.

Maxmini are purveyors of quality resin miniatures, for sure, but they are best known for their conversion bits. The Steam Knight helmets are just one of several conversion packs that Maxmini makes. The heads come in a blister of 10. The website says that the heads are randomly selected, but my blister had exactly two of each design.

The heads are one piece resin bits, and are amongst the cleanest resin pieces I have ever seen. The only cleanup required is a bit of sprue at the base of each head, a place that will be concealed once the head is mounted on a body. Plastic or metal GW Space Marine heads require more TLC than these pieces. They fit right onto Space Marine bodies with no fuss, the neck joint being nearly exactly the same dimensions as stock. I found no imperfections with the Steam Knight heads.

The aesthetic of the heads is very techno-primitive, a mix between chunky medieval armor and slick science fiction. The preponderance of smooth, flat surfaces rewards a simple metallic or non-metallic metallic paint job. Deft black-lining and flat metallic painting looks very good, but a talented painter could really make these heads sing. The Steam Knight heads look appropriate atop the body of a Space Marine and are perfectly within scale. Well, as within scale as is possible with “heroic” 28mm scale can be.

The Black Templars and Iron Warriors Space Marine Chapters are both noted for their knightly appointments. The Steam Knight heads are perfect for either chapter, being a bit more flamboyant than the Black Templar helmets GW makes, but not so much so that they would look out of place. For Iron Warriors, the Steam Knights heads are strike the right balance between knightly and steampunk. Among the other major chapters, I can easily see these heads scattered amongst the rank and file of the Dark Angels. The Grey Knights aren’t Codex Astartes, but they are the most knightly of Space Marines and the Steam Knight heads fight their look perfectly. I am inspired to start an Iron Champions army by virtue of how great these heads look.

A pack of 10 Steam Knight helmets will run you about $7.46, which is a good price for such a quality component. If you are interested in adding a bit of medieval flair to your Space Marines army or having an entire army of Space Knights, the Maxmini Steam Knight helmets are the best option.