For those who have built any type of tank that has side skirts to it, How much did you paint underneath/behind the skirt, if you did? Is it really necessary to paint EVERYTHING under there? Or can some items be omitted since they’ll be hard to see by spectators and/or judges, etc.?
Below are some example diagrams showing highlighted items and areas that I am talking about.
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Judges are one thing,don’t they peek around with their little flashlights,but if it’s only for you,do enough to satisfy you work ethic.I’ll paint the inside of skirts and hidden stuff most of the time,but on one build where the top was completely enclosed,I didnt even complete the top run of Magic Tracks,they were out of sight,so really,if it’s not in a contest,its your call
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Great question, the answer of which I’ve seen pushed to the limit where one bright spark at the Warhammer 40K club decided on minimal effort to paint the back side of his miniatures since his opponent won’t see that side 
Your greatest enemy is photography, where the wrong camera angle will capture a line of sight that your brush or airbrush couldn’t, leaving you with a weird lighter spot visible behind your running gear. Easiest remedy for something substantially obscured by skirts or interleaved road wheels is to paint these areas a very dark (but not black) shade of your primary colour so that they don’t stand out to any prying angles of cameras or the Mk.1 Eyeball
Its less of an issue if you’re going for a parade-ground look, but if you’re trying to mimic field conditions, it’s still a good idea to add some muddy texture under there. Even if you’re hiding it with a darker shade of primary colour, it’ll make the surface look less uniform and more convincing to prying eyes
Anything more than that starts to come down to the individual hobbyist taking the “Nobody will see it, but I’ll know” approach, which can add significant weight to the satisfaction with the finished product.
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I paint and build everything. But that is my choice…or OCD. The reality is, if you cannot see it then no one else will. Do whatever you feel comfortable doing. It is your build.
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It’s a pretty good sign of the talent of the competitive modelling community when judges have to go to these lengths to pick on the most frivolous of flaws to knock a contender off the finishers podium
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Back at it after a 50 year layoff, but I usually paint under the skirt with whatever base color I am using for the whole tank, but don’t bother with any detail painting.
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