[PvK]

I see your points, SJ and Fryon. The balance issue is interesting on balance grounds - repair time is an interesting trade-off, though 100kT components aren't as insta-repair as shields are. The "ships are usually wiped out in stock" idea is something I'd generally want to mod away anyway, personally. On a sense-making basis, if it's supposed to be a disposable external armor substance, I'd do it the way I suggested. If I wanted something balanced as SJ suggested, I'd describe it differently so it made sense to me, but that's just my personal taste, of course.

PvK