Welcome to the H section of the Model Scenery Glossary, where we explore modelling materials, tools, techniques and scenic features beginning with the letter H. This page includes useful terms such as hedges, hardstanding, handrails, hills, harbour walls, huts, hoardings, hydrants and hedge materials.
Whether you’re building a model railway layout, diorama, wargaming board or scale model scene, these H terms will help you understand the materials, methods and scenic details that can add structure, texture, depth and everyday realism to your miniature world.
Modelling Materials
- Hardboard — thin sheet board used for backscenes, fascia panels, baseboard tops, scenic formers and lightweight structure building.
- Hessian — coarse woven fabric used for sacks, tarpaulins, scenic texture, ground covering, terrain bases and rustic detail.
- Hedge material — foliage, fibre, foam or matting used to create hedgerows, bushes, field boundaries and garden planting.
- Hemp fibre — natural fibre used for long grass, reeds, weeds, roots, thatch, vines and rough vegetation.
- Hobby plaster — general modelling plaster used for rock castings, terrain shells, wall sections, embankments and scenic groundwork.
- Hot-melt glue sticks — glue sticks used with a hot glue gun for quick fixing, terrain support, wiring, rough construction and temporary scenic work.
- Hydrocal — hard casting plaster used for rock faces, tunnel mouths, walls, terrain shells and durable scenic castings.
Tools
- Hack saw — fine-toothed saw used for cutting metal, plastic, brass rod, tube, bolts and tougher modelling materials.
- Hairdryer — useful for gently speeding up drying times on paint, washes, glue, plaster and water-based scenic products.
- Hand drill — small manual drill used for making controlled holes in plastic, resin, wood, card, plaster and small detail parts.
- Hand saw — general saw used for cutting timber, plywood, baseboard parts, foam, plastic sheet and larger scenic components.
- Heat gun — tool used for drying, shaping plastic, softening adhesives, shrinking materials and creating some specialist texture effects.
- Hemostat — locking clamp similar to forceps, used for holding small parts, wires, figures, foliage and delicate details.
- Hobby knife — sharp craft knife used for cutting card, plastic sheet, paper, masking tape, foam, decals and small components.
- Hole punch — tool used to punch small circles from paper, card, plastic sheet or masking material for signs, discs, plates and detail parts.
- Hot glue gun — heated tool used with hot-melt glue sticks for fast scenic construction, terrain support, temporary fixing and larger assemblies.
Skills & Techniques
- Hand painting — applying paint with a brush for buildings, figures, signs, details, weathering and scenic finishing.
- Hardstanding surfacing — creating firm yard, depot, car park or industrial surfaces using plaster, filler, card, plastic sheet, sand or texture paste.
- Hedge building — making hedgerows from clump foliage, fibre, foam, seafoam, scatter, leaf material or vegetation mats.
- Highlighting — using lighter paint, dry brushing or powders to pick out raised details on rocks, walls, buildings, figures and accessories.
- Hill building — forming raised landscape using foam, card formers, plaster cloth, filler, paper shell or carved terrain materials.
- Hiding joins — blending gaps between scenic sections, buildings, roads, backscenes, terrain and baseboard edges.
- Hollow casting — casting thin-walled parts in resin, plaster or other materials to reduce weight and material use.
- Horizon blending — softening the transition between layout scenery and backscene so the model world appears deeper.
- House weathering — adding dirt, faded paint, algae, soot, moss, damp marks and roof staining to make model houses look lived-in.
- Hut detailing — adding doors, windows, roof texture, signs, lighting, weathering and clutter to small sheds or huts.
Infrastructure
- Handrails — safety rails fitted to steps, platforms, bridges, walkways, signal boxes, industrial buildings and public areas.
- Harbour walls — waterside retaining walls used around docks, quays, fishing harbours, canals and coastal scenes.
- Hardstanding — firm paved, concrete, tarmac, gravel or compacted surface used in yards, depots, car parks and industrial areas.
- Hay barns — open or enclosed farm buildings used for storing hay, straw, equipment and animal feed.
- Hedgerows — lines of shrubs, trees and undergrowth used as field boundaries, garden edges, lane borders and railway-side scenery.
- High street shops — rows of shops used in town, village, suburban and urban scenes.
- Hill cuttings — excavated sections through hills used for railways, roads, paths and canals.
- Hills — raised scenic landforms used to create depth, countryside, cuttings, tunnels, valleys and natural landscape variation.
- Hoardings — large advertising boards or temporary construction barriers used in streets, stations, industrial areas and building sites.
- Hospital buildings — larger civic or institutional buildings useful for town scenes, city layouts and urban backdrops.
- Hotel buildings — commercial buildings used in town centres, seaside scenes, station approaches and village squares.
- Houses — residential buildings including terraces, cottages, detached houses, semis, bungalows and townhouses.
- Huts — small simple buildings used as stores, offices, shelters, railway huts, allotment huts, site cabins and yard structures.
- Hydraulic buffers — buffer-stop details used at bay platforms, sidings, depots, terminals and industrial railway ends.
Details & Accessories
- Hanging baskets — decorative planting details used on houses, pubs, shops, stations, cafés and village scenes.
- Hay bales — rural scenic details used in fields, barns, farmyards and agricultural scenes.
- Haystacks — piles of hay or straw used in farm scenes, older rural settings and agricultural dioramas.
- Headstones — grave markers used in churchyards, cemeteries and memorial scenes.
- Hedge trimmings — small loose scenic foliage used around gardens, allotments, lane edges and recently maintained hedges.
- Hessian sacks — small sack details used in farms, docks, warehouses, markets, coal yards and goods platforms.
- Hoarding posters — printed advertising or warning posters fitted to hoardings, walls, stations and street scenes.
- Horse figures — animal figures used in fields, stables, farms, cart scenes, period layouts and rural dioramas.
- Horse troughs — water troughs used in farmyards, fields, stables, village streets and older road scenes.
- House nameplates — small signs fitted to homes, cottages, lodges, farms and commercial buildings.
- Hydrants — small roadside, yard or industrial details used to represent water access points or fire protection.
- Hygiene signs — small warning or instruction signs used in factories, food premises, workshops, public buildings and modern industrial scenes.