Great buy

I purchased these stencils for a USA pallet flag. It was the 1st pallet flag I made, so I wanted it to look good and not like a hack built it. I'm an engineer by trade, so we're generally perfectionists. I didn't want to hand paint or use a sponge to place the stars, so I opted for a stencil pack. I also wanted to use spray paint and the 1776 stencil. I opted to use the 1776 stencil as I thought the full star pattern would create a scenario where many stars are over the seams, and they would look blurry after I painted them.

I found out that stencils are great. They're thick and the cutouts are perfect. The issue I had, and while it's not an issue with the stencils themselves, any part that went over the seams in the wood would leave a shadow and the painted item wasn't crisp and clear. I tried taping things off, holding the stencil down but each time at least one star, or also in my case, the numbering has a shadow. A roller with minimal paint would have probably worked better, but the areas where the stencil crossed over the seams would have been problematic. You're probably looking at the image like WTF, but while I'm OK with the outcome, either all of the features have to be 'weathered' or crisp. A combination of both makes it look bad. Close up, you can see shadowing on top of the numbering and a few of the stars. I also re-painted a two sections a couple times trying to make it better, but it didn't work out. Oh well.

Overall, these are great. I expect them to hold up well, and the fact they provide 3 different sizes is great. I'm sure they're great on completely flat surfaces, but if you're using reclaimed wood or spray paint, don't expect perfection. If you opt to use spray paint, you'll get acceptable results by taping the stencil's edges down (I used painter's tape) and spray only perpendicularly to the item you're painting. You'll still get some blowing around the numbering or stars close by, but you can keep it to a minimum.