For starters, I had to decide some arbitrary units of measure and I decided to use percentages of the armadillo itself. So, if the armadillo is represented by 100% then 50% would be half that mass and 200% would be double. (If your brain gets addled by percentages then just think of the numbers as representing ounces, pounds, kilos or whatever you prefer.)
Short vs. Long
Some materials can have a range of sizes between each link (for a fixed price). I have given the relative mass of the shortest and longest length of a single section.
Compression and Tension
Compression and Tension on a material will change its mass for the same length. That's because there is actually more or less material that has been squashed or stretched to the desired length. Although most materials can be compressed or stretched by various amounts, I've only given the values for full compression/tension of elastic and rubber.
Rockets
Rockets deserve a special mention. They have their own mass, depending on length, but also have a thrust value whcih can increase or decrease it's effective weight. In simple terms, the effective weight is the mass plus the thrust if pointing down and the mass minus the thrust if pointing up (if the effective weight goes negative, the rocket defies gravity and moves upward).
Variable length materials without links
- Short elastic: 6%; compressed 30%; tensioned 4%
Short rope: 8%
Short cloth: 12%
- Short metal bar: 12%
Short metal sheet: 20%
Short rubber: 16%; compressed 28%; tensioned 12%
Long metal bar: 60%
Long metal sheet: 100%
Long rubber: 80%; compressed 140%; tensioned 60%
- Short rocket: 46%; thrust 130%; max lift 84%; max weight 176%
Long rocket: 240%; thrust 760%; max lift 520%; max weight 1000%
Armadillo: 100%
Dave.