Check out
SE4 Modding 101 Tutorial. It explains leaky armor and QNP. I still need to write a section on leaky shields. Basically, they use the crystalline armor Shields From Damage ability and have low levels of shield generation. Typically, you have 1/2 as much Shields From Damage as you do shield points. So, damage from nearly every shot that hits the ship can do internal damage, and will add new shield points. Leaky shields function like Star Trek shields, where they only block part of the damage, and they are not 100% gone after the first few hits, never to return (assuming you have no shield regenerators).
Adamant Mod, which you already have, implements all of these things. Check out its files for examples.
[ April 11, 2004, 21:06: Message edited by: Imperator Fyron ]