Spent the morning streaming and creating a new character, the IP Soldier. Had a lot of fun and learned a few new techniques. It was SHOCKINGLY easy to make the armor and pads. Select the quads on the model you wish to turn into armor (taking the piece from the mesh will ensure the armor fits the body right). Duplicate, P, separate by selection, and then use the solidify modifier to add some depth (which will later be applied to add further detail).
If you rigged your character already (which you should have), you won't have to do any further weight painting, the armor will Just Work™ (save for some possible touch-ups).