Here is one from the "Relic Meister"; Dave Stewart. Pay attention here. Stew has some really good tips for your first/next relic project. Take it Stew;
 

This is another one of my overspray projects. I used 100% Fender parts and hardware. I took a Fender replacement body (nitro 3 tone sunburst finish) and neck, lightly roughed up the surface on the body and pegface with 800 grit wet sandpaper, followed by BIN's primer (2 coats). I used 3 coats of Guitar Reranch Daphne Blue following the instructions provided by the Guitar Reranch finishing instructions. I omitted the last few color applications to avoid additional body weight. I also used about 3 coats of clear lacquer. Originally, this was going to be a NOS finished Strat and eventually let the sunburst finish wear through over time naturally. Guess what, I'm too impatient. So I got to work turning this into a Relic project. Using anything around the house, I began scraping, scratching, chipping, and sanding away at the body. The buckle wear was used with an 800 grade wet sandpaper then graduating to a 1200 grade for blending in the rough scratches made by the sandpaper.

Strategically map out where you're going to make your distress marks. Get any pictures or jpegs off the Internet and see what are common wear areas before making your marks. For chips I used a flat head screwdriver, money clip, and an ice pick (oh my God)! The ice pick was to give the screwdriver a place to grab hold of to whittle away a chip. And that's exactly the motion you make when making a "chip." Placing the flat end of the screwdriver at, say, a 70 degree angle, almost parallel to the surface, apply firm pressure and push foreword.  The blade may occasionally slip but that's ok. That's what makes it look natural. I've even used a set of car keys, a big bunch of them (make sure they are not so important keys, they might bend), and have thrown the keys in the air and let the guitar body catch them.

For body checking, I used a few cans of Component Cooler, available at most computer stores or Radio Shack. It's very important that you allow plenty of time for the finish to cure before using this technique. I waited 3 months before doing this process. I originally tried this after a month of curing and the cracks disappeared back into the original finish. Almost like it melted back into the paint and was literally undetected. Hold the can upside
down and strategically spray directly onto the body. This will instantly crack the finish. To make the cracks more visible, take some ebony wood stain and wipe some stain over the body in small sections at a time only. If the stain dries you'll have a heck of a time getting it off (voice of experience).  Like the Karate Kid, wipe on, wipe off. If there is a light black residue over the body even though you wiped most of the stain off, no problem, take another adequately soaked piece of 1200 grit wet sandpaper and go over the entire body once again. This will remove the remaining stain, leaving the stain only in the cracks, and will blend in the dings and chips.

Now, to age or yellow the finish a little, take some aluminum foil, shiny side up, and set the body, face side up out in the sun for about 8 hours, then repeat the process for the back side for another 8. The foil will reflect the sun to cover the sides of the guitar. When you flip sides (front to back) make sure you swap top and bottom sides as well. What I mean by that is whatever side was primarily shaded (arm contour or bottom of body side). That way you don't double the sunlight on a particular side of the guitar. You don't want a yellow sunburst finish effect. I left the pickguard on for this process to get that "halo" effect.

And that's it. Really simple. Just remember to cure the paint first before doing any of the distressing.

Thanks, Stew. As usual a wonderful job!
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