Judging tanks?

[seadude]

So I'm in the process of painting the tank treads on my P1000 Ratte tanks tonight. But is it necessary to paint the ENTIRE track? When judges judge tanks at a contest, how far will they go to look underneath the tank to make sure things are painted and/or the "backside" of tank treads?
It's not like a judge is going to pick up a tank to look underneath it to see if it's painted. Or do they actually do that?  I just want to know if it's worth it to paint the entire underside of a tank hull even though nobody will see it and/or paint the "bottom" of the tank treads that actually touch the table or other surface.

[pyro-manic]

Personally, it'd drive me nuts knowing I'd left the underside bare. I would perhaps ease off the weathering, but to me it's part of the exterior, so would definitely be painted.

[Old Wombat]

As an armour modeller I paint everything.

The only AFV I haven't painted the underside of is the hover tank that is my avatar/sig icon.

[zenrat]

I think the more important thing to consider is will the judges be physically capable of lifting them?

[Captain Canada]

No idea but if it were just sitting atop a shelf in my own home I'd say nay. But if it's going to a contest and being judged, I'd paint the whole thing just in case. 

[dadlamassu]

I have dozens (perhaps hundreds) of 1/76 and 1/72 tanks.  The ones with vinyl tracks are left alone underneath as the colour is usually OK.  Though I do paint the wheels and the inside of the track to try to impede "track rot".  On resin and scratch builds the tracks get painted all over but no weathering or detailing underneath, just plain base colour.

[Rick Lowe]

As has been said, I'd still paint it, but leave it in a primer black.

Cheers & HTH

[seadude]

But if a tank is bolted, glued, etc. to a wood base and/or diorama scene, then it shouldn't really matter if the bottom gets painted, right?

[manytanks]

I prime the bottom and a light spray or dark yellow thinned right down,then go over lightly with red brown.

[Old Wombat]

But if a tank is bolted, glued, etc. to a wood base and/or diorama scene, then it shouldn't really matter if the bottom gets painted, right?

If it's bolted down there's no need to paint the groundside of the tracks (except to protect the plastic) but some judges do use mirrors to check the underside of such vehicles.

[PR19_Kit]

But if a tank is bolted, glued, etc. to a wood base and/or diorama scene, then it shouldn't really matter if the bottom gets painted, right?

If it's bolted down there's no need to paint the groundside of the tracks (except to protect the plastic) but some judges do use mirrors to check the underside of such vehicles.

I wonder if they notice that it's made of PLASTIC and not armour plate too? 

[Steel Penguin]

and that if the paint thickness was 1:nth as thick as is should be the effect would be totally different as well