best materials

I have appreciated everyone's help at this site.
I am about to start a new helmet and I thought I would ask this question:

I have templates for a new helmet ready. I cut them out of nice paper stock. Last time I traced them onto framers mat board. I was pretty happy with the results although I felt there were places that the mat board separated a bit and edges were a bit dodgy.

What other materials do you folks like to use besides mat board? Anyone tried anything else they are happy with?

I also tried once to actually glue the cut out templates onto the board and then cut them out (this lets me benefit from the graphics on the template.) I found this to be terrible over time - the paper ripped off or bubbled in places etc.

I would like to try sintra one day but... I don't think my skill are there yet.
I would love to hear some opinions about what material they like best.

Thanks again for a great site.

Well, I was originally going to scratch my bucket out of a, well, bucket...

5 gallon generic HDPE bucket you can get at any hardware store; has near the right thickness and "flare", all that's needed is to mark with the templates and cut out...

Only things I've found are, 1. For me, I can't nail down or find any affordable glue or epoxy that will hold to HDPE and other plastics...

2. I'm too impatient to make my own after wasting countless hours trying to make the above work...