If I have to work with plastic...

[Peikko]

which would you suggest is best for SCA or WMA purposes? ABS, HDPE, ?

I promise that this will never see the light of day on a SCA list field.

[Sean Powell]

For what section of the body and how thick? You are asking what gage metal should be used without specifying material or location.

For SCA purposes, I prefer 1/8" Kydex for corazinna torsos and vambraces. I use .060" HDPE buckets for corazinna faulds. For gauntlets or legs I would recomend thicker. The type and amount of shaping affects the material choice as certain materials take shape better and certain shapes can overcome thickness deficiencies.

Sean

[losthelm]

ABS is usualy .125" or .187" for SCA armour thicker for heavy strike areas or if you have holes close to each other or near the edge.
The extra material absorbes more of the shot and reduces cracking.

[Peikko]

You are right I was being too vague, sorry.

However, your advice adequately answers my question.

[Jestyr]

ABS and Kydex have similar protective qualities. The benefit of Kydex is that it can handle 3D, complex shapes better such as a globose breastplate, or tuliped vambraces. The benefit of ABS is cost (much, much cheaper).

HDPE, from what I understand is much harder to form intricately and have it keep its curve, but it is protective and is more resistant to weather effects. The real reason most people use HDPE is cost -- you can get a huge bucket for super cheap.

[raito]

From my experience, Kydex outperforms the others, but is more expensive. ABS is crap comparatively, but cheaper. HDPE will last better, but I've only used it in barrel form, and it doesn't much like to be formed from that. But HDPE doesn't perform as well as armour.

[Swete]

All my hidden armour that I have made has been from carwash HDPE barrel and it has served wonderfully. If you are doing simple curves then it is awesome.

[Konstantin the Red]

You can get all the HDPE buckets you want, free, if you scrounge construction sites.