Yea thats a nice build.
I remember one of my homeboys telling me about that armor set-up. They said he used leather i think
Your right. the animated/CGI characters do give alot to interpret. Looking at a few screenshots, I can see scrapes/dings so ima have to lean towards hard armor.
Now, I sculpted hard armor so im probably talking out my ass.
But you made a good point earlier about coating them.
1) A person could seperate the plates.
*giving more of a layered look*
2) Assemble the pieces and coat them.
*Avoiding perfecting armor and painting*
3) It would make it more maneuverable.
*might look better for submission pictures*