I've seen this technique a couple of times but way too involved. I got the same effect and finished this part of the project in about 10 min.
This technique can totally be scaled down also for smaller projects.
What you need:
- Stencil material ( I just got some plastic from the back of a package)
- Dark color paint
- X-acto Knife
- Marker (this is a little more important than you think)
The pictures are pretty self-explanatory, but I'll narrate a little.
First cut a hole in the stencil, the same size of the marker. You can use something smaller also. Then make a mark, the distance you want your rivets apart.
Next shade a bottom corner of the rivet.
Use the mark on the stencil to space your rivets. This is what it looks like.
Now hold the marker right over the rivet and shade the opposing corner.
Dude it's that easy. It's funny, I've seen this technique explained using a custom cutout vinyl stencil and the whole technique must have taken hours. This part of my project took like 10min to finish all the rivets.
Final note:
If you do this technique on a dark surface you can just use a light color instead of a dark color. Also just touch it up at the end with a highlight of white on the bright side.