“Alleywood” is a traditional term used to describe a building materials that you didn’t have to pay for - construction scraps, broken pallets, furniture factory discards, old broken fence posts, etc. ie. any odd bits of wood you might find in an alley… are alleywood

Today, we can easily stretch the definition to include wood coffee stirrers, discarded advertising stuff of any material (acrylic, coroplast, etc), and even plastic or foam packaging from some product.

Most often for a model you don’t NEED big pieces, just lots of little ones. Alleywood is generally short bits that other folks didn’t want anyway

Need stripwood but can only find an old board? Pull the nails and rip a with a saw. (use a fence and a pusher stick for small work - safety first!)

Need a building to be more rigid? Back the joints with triangles of alleywood. Or a big chunk in the base can add weight to keep it from moving with the wind.

Need roof trusses? Triangles made of old plywood are fast and easy.

Even stuff that was metal in the real world, like girder bridges, can be modeled from alleywood. Just seal it good and paint it.

Need walls or roof parts? Outdated advertising signs come in many sizes and are easily cut down.

Need window ‘glass’? Look at that blister pack you were going to toss out again…

And the best part? It didn’t cost you a thing!