Armor Budget Armor Plates

First Jango, and I'm trying to keep it at a relatively sane price. I picked up some sign post board from staples that works pretty much like sintra when you heat it up in an oven, and I've also got a trash bin. However I don't really know how to work the thicker plastic of the trash bin. Anybody with experience know how to go about turning trash into a nice well-shaped, steel-looking plate? Temperature, sanding, paints... etc?

Theres tons of thread about this, from trash can stuff to sintra you can keep it sane...but itll take work to get it to look like armor and not trash can plastic....use the search function up top...search titles for budget armor maybe...

Try this short tutorial How to make armor with Sintra, Rub & Buff, and weathering - YouTube