Achieving this effect without airbrushing

[viivo]

While my case is away getting sandblasted, I've been mulling over methods of painting it. It's really simple - the case will be emerald green, while the front panel and 4 inches onto all sides of the case will be black that will fade to the green. What I'd like to do is 2 inches into the black start a dot pattern that will be the fade. It's hard to explain, but anyone who has seen the pattern on soda cans knows what I mean. I had thought about drilling multiple sized holes in a sheet of plastic, or worst case, poking some holes in cardboard, but I'm hoping to find some other suggestions first.

Any suggestions on how to do this with good ol' Krylon would be appreciated.

Thanks.

 

[viivo]

Well, a proof of concept involving cardboard returned less than positive results, so I may just paint the front panel black and leave the whole of the case green, unless I can get a better suggestion on how to do what I wanted originally.

Also, would it be worth it to have the auto restoration shop where I had it sandblasted paint it? Not sure I trust myself to do it without some blobs and runs..