Gold leaf gilding - need advice

[rendoman]

Happy new year!

May I ask some advice about gilding with gold leaf?
I will build soon a pair of speaker with 8" fullrange, I was thinking about a gold-copper inlay on wood front panel. The idea is to use a chisel, or dremel to create a tree pattern, use bolo clay (or vermilio paint as base), glue and try to add the thin gold layer. I read that there are also some bitumen wax or special paint to age the inlay.
I know that a mininum of tools is required for a flat gilding, a sort of special knife (I wanted to use a sharp scalpel), a cushion to lay and cut the leaf and a Vajo brush (squirrel hair?) to move the gold.

Any advice about this mad idea?
Thanks!