The Vtg Stencil fonts from astype are based on real world stencils from several countries. The US No. 4 design was derived from a typical antique US-American stencil-plate. This revolving stencil-plate was invented by Eugene L. Tarbox and patented in 1868. It was a mass factored product and a very common tool in the United States until the success of the interlocking stencils. In case of US No. 4 an original early stencil plate from New York Stencil Works was used. The Regular font style is a clean font design featuring an extended Latin glyph set including some typical stencil ornaments and tabular figures. The Paint font style is made from true stenciled letters and features all the letters of the stencil-plate only. If you like the later interlocking design have a look to my Vtg Stencil US No.2 font. More info: pdf specimen
The Vtg Stencil series of fonts from astype are based on real world stencils. These stencils were used in the 50's and 60's by the US Army. If you are interested in the current stencil design, please have a look at Vtg Stencil US No.72 .