Armor Materials

Good Day,

So, brand new to the board and the whole costuming thing.
Currently planning 2x Mandalorians (one custom, one Boba for the wife) to be started in a few months (I'm away from home for work at the moment), currently looking at/for materials, armor, props, et cetera.

And leading into my question:
For my custom, I'm thinking of full-coverage leg armor, as opposed to the frontal coverage that seems to be most popular. Also looking for a codpiece that'll cover front and back... might look into Stormtrooper parts or something of the like for my lower.

And for the actual question..
Sintra, which seems to be the most popular/affordable material in use. How much punishment can it be expected to take? Say I were wearing full leg and butt armor, would sitting on it be likely to damage it (I'm not a heavy guy at around 150, but I'm still the weight of, well, a dude)?
If sintra isn't workable for that manner of use, is there anyone around that makes more durable (metal of some sort, assumedly) armor bits? Haven't seen any on the boards, and eBay seems pretty useless unless I want to go medieval.

Thanks

6mm sintra is pretty durable, and at your weight should be all you need. Metal armor is going to run you up into the high hundereds of dollars to have made, and there are less than a hand full of people who make it (me being one of them). You can also use Kydex which is the stuff thick plastic buckets are made of, or PVC pipe.

The sintra isn't as rigid as other materials so you should be able to sit on it without it breaking on you. Aside from Sintra you could go with Styrene or ABS. The ABS is more expensive than all of the others (except for maybe the Kydex Novall mentioned) but is tough. The Styrene is also very durable and easy to work with, that's what I'm making most of my armor out of. The PVC pipe is harmless when you're just cutting and glueing it together but when you heat it the smell can be a bear (plus it's not good for you :facepalm) so if you go that route do it in a very well ventilated area.

Awesome boys, thanks for the info.
I'm an apartment-dweller without access to any kind of workshop, so for the most part making my own stuff just isn't practical at this time.

If you's wouldn't mind answering another fun question while I've got a thread up... who around here sells sintra armor of the 6mm variety (or styrene/kydex)? Everything I've seen while creeping the Cargo Hold is 3mm.
Of course I could start PMing everyone I can see making anything, but I'd rather avoid spamming every member here if it's not neccessary.

Thanks again dudes

I've haven't seen anyone selling armor using 6mm plastic lately, and I'm not sure if anyone offers it either. Anything that measures as 6mm (which is about 1/4" thick) would be overkill IMO, 3mm (which is about 1/8" thick) is more than adequate for armor and is the largest size I've seen used for any armor project. I'm working on a project with some members of my garrison and we're using 1/8" (0.125) styrene for the torsoe armor and a thinner (0.08) styrene for the limbs.

Rightio, thanks for the further info. A few more weeks creeping around here, and I'll be more than ready to start finding stuff...

Google Tap Plastic. They also have stores, which I luckily live only 2 miles from. They sell 3mm & 6mm. I think they even sell thicker stuff. However, 3mm is very cheap & light. I pay less than $15 for a 3'x3' sheet. 6mm was $20 for a 2'x2' (I believe). 3mm is very nice & doable. My 3mm backplate is very solid. I just made a 6mm chest set and its super solid. I think you would be very happy with 6mm. So yeah go to Tap plastic's website, they ship!