artworksmetal wrote:
I would stick to plastic or wood. Aluminium (hard putting that extra 'i' in there) is an excellent thermal conductor, so it will carry heat inward. Also, I'm betting it will block the transmitter.
A thin layer of reflective paint or foil would accomplish what your suggesting, without the conductive mass. Even the metallic paint may hinder the transmitter, though.
Good point about the transmitter! It would only fire out the gaps, so the receiver would need to be able to "see" it. OTOH, aluminium would have the benefit of stopping any interference pickup by the transmitter (though not the receiver).
Aluminium (BTW, that was the US spelling, too, until about 1905!) is a good conductor of heat as you say, meaning wind passing over it will cool it quickly (unlike poorer conductors like plastic). But aluminium is a poor emitter of infrared radiation, so re-radiates very inefficiently in the mid to far infrared, which is where the heating of the transmitter would come from. So apart from the transmitter masking, it should work well. Paint or any sort is likely to be better at emitting mid/far infrared so would transfer heat radiatively more efficiently than aluminium.
[Aside: I noticed some decades ago that the aluminium alloy engine block of my Norton Commando motorcycle (that dates me) did not feel hot when I held my fingers close to it, but was in fact very hot (after a burn up through the Adelaide Hills) when I touched it. Then a mosquito flew by, detected the "warm" engine block, landed on it thinking it was "food" and was suddenly frizzed into a dried out husk. It didn't know about infrared emissivities
]
The lesson from that, though, is that in the absence of wind, aluminium things cool slowly.
DN
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I did break a few melamine plates getting the holes cut though 
Glad I bought spares 