I've noticed on sailboats that handheld VHF reception (especially from distant weather stations) is much better when standing near the mast and shrouds (aluminum mast/stainless cables).

I suppose if you routed an antenna internally for scale or asthetics and it was EXACTLY parallel to a control rod, that rod could shield the antenna if it was directly between you and the antenna. Our transmitters are line-of-sight and relatively weak. So, put the antenna low in the fuselage where the control rods are above it for most flying if you are concerned. One of my first R/C airplanes (a Sig Kadet) had almininum colored Micafilm. It sure flew badly - must have been due to poor reception.