Customizing a "release"

[ctodd at chrismiller.com]

I'm looking for information on how to properly customize a FreeBSD
distribution when using the "make release" framework. I've made some
attempts to include a custom kernel in my own release, but this kernel
never makes it's way into the staging area (i.e. ftp distribution). The
documentation on the FreeBSD site covers how to build a release, but other
than a few hints I'm not finding and references on the correct way to
customize the release. Preferably I'd like to populate the build area
with the source, and apply my own patches prior to completing the build so
that a "make rerelease" and lengthy delay is not necessary. On that note,
is it possible to pre qualify a source file using the version control
number prior to applying the patch so that source changes are flagged?

Chris