I'm just curious, if you don't have LiPo batteries or gun magazines that can be dented, is there really a need for internal armor?
Also you don't really want to be cracking SLAs, or having ESCs, your wiring and such shot. Best to avoid unnecessary damage when possible.
Same here. Wonderful stuff. I've also seen and used the plastic from 2 liter bottles, plastic canvas (example: http://www.joann.com/darice-stiff-plastic-canvas-7-count-12inx18in-clear/1971233.html ) - though I've been told the plastic canvas won't hold up, I haven't seen a failure firsthand (Edit: See following comments below for several people saying they've seen this stuff fail - probably best to avoid it).
I have seen bbs go through that plastic canvas. It might be fine for local battles but if you go to a regionals or nationals it is not up to the job.
The thing to remember is that some people make their own cannons and know how to make them hit hard. I came home from the last MWCI regional in Georgia with dents in my tight tolerance stainless steel barrels that although very small were enough to cause jams. The copper barrel somebody gave me got even more banged up (barrel armour is also important).
Exit holes are BAD. Guns generally point down, so an entry hole could be above the water line, but an exit hole will most likely be below. Here is a picture of failed plastic canvas. There are more than one source for the plastic canvas. Some is good. Some is very brittle. STAY AWAY. I recently purchased some Bathtub liner. I really like it. It can be purchased by the foot at Lowes. I have uses Pop Bottle Armor for years. It is cheap/free. A little harder to work with, but very tough.
I've used 2 liter bottles, .03 lexan, .06 lexan (personal favorite) and shower pan liner. Coke bottle works real well and the price is hard to beat. Main issue with it is that it has to be screwed to the ribs to keep it flat and in place. .03 polycarbonate (lexan) works real well, but still wants to be fixed to the hull. .06 is my favorite especially in long lengths. It's still able to be cut with scissors but is rigid enough to stay put. I generally cut it to where it has little legs to let water and BBs roll out from behind it while fully covering the panels (and a bit below) and just let the ship's guts hold it in place. Not the cheapest option though. Shower pan liner is cheap, needs to be screwed/glued to the hull to keep it in place and is opaque (which I personally don't like because I want to see what the skin looks like on the inside as well.) They all handle BBs just fine. Stay away from the plastic canvas. I've shot clean through ships that have used that stuff. Nasty holes on the backside.
screen door material works pretty well. There are several different materials, ranging from fine metal wire to a thicker plastic-covered fiberglass mesh. It's the second type that I use. We first used it as a protective screen for the ship launching/recovering area in our Last Man Standing battle a few years ago, but soon started using it for blast shields. A strip of velcro on the ribs, and a matching strip on the mesh, and it'll stay just fine. Best of it allows water through but not bbs or debris, so your ship is less likely to clog pumps or suffer listing due to trapped water.
