To kick off Zombie week, I’m featuring a very talented artist/Star Wars fanboy/(fellow) creator of Awesome – Travis Stevens. He has customized some Star Wars action figures and made them into zombie characters which is based on a book – Death Troopers by Joe Schriber. I’ve stumbled upon Travis’ Etsy shop while browsing through some Storm Trooper stuff and came across these hideous yet awesome creations and I thought the same as he did – Star Wars Storm Troopers + Zombies = EPIC WIN.

What could be better than Star Wars Storm Troopers combined with Zombies?! A CONTEST!!!One lucky winner will receive one of Travis’ Storm Trooper Zombie creations which is donated by Mr. Stevens himself AND as a bonus for Zombie week here at GiR – not only will you receive the Storm Trooper Zombie, but you will also receive a copy of Death Trooper, courtesy of GeekinitReal and in partnership of Zombie411.com

I thought it was fate. Yes, good ‘ole arm gnawing, leg chewing, flesh eating – fate.

Presenting, GeekinitReal’s interview with a fellow Star Wars and Zombie Geek – Travis Stevens.

GIR: Can you tell us a little bit about yourself?
TS:
I am a 28 year old elementary music teacher living in Eastern PA. I’m married with two dogs (toy poodles, but not cut to be all “frilly”); I love Star Wars, zombies, movies in general, travel, and building and redesigning guitars to be more interesting. Eventually I plan to do a graphic novel like a million other amateur artists. I’ve been in different bands before, and continue to perform original music and covers in weddings, bars / restaurants, etc. I even wrote separate songs about Darth Vader and Indiana Jones for an album my college rock band, “The Flying Dutchmen” put out; don’t bother checking iTunes, but if you’re interested I can send those your way.

My inspiration for these figures was the fantastic book, Death Troopers. The combination of the Star Wars universe and an unstoppable horde of zombies… was totally unexpected, and absolutely perfect for me. I have a pretty extensive Star Wars collection,and I’ve customized a lot of my own figures- it was natural to make my own mini-horde of Imperial zombies. Also, if anyone is interested in reading Death Troopers, they will also want to check out the prequel, Red Harvest (also by Joe Schreiber).

I’ve been designing (or trying to) for years and years; I remember having an extra Kenner Super Powers Superman figure, and I tried melting his hair off using a lightbulb as a young kid- I don’t remember what my goal was, but it obviously didn’t end up becoming a masterpiece in any sense of the word. I also tried turning a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles “Chrome Dome” figure into a Boba Fett, but that project also didn’t completely pan out. From that point, I started getting into woodcarving. In High School I had to pick a music or art track, and I went with music; as a result, I didn’t do much related to visual art. I guess I also had to decide whether I wanted a girlfriend, so I didn’t do much with action figures either! What a shame. Late in High School, my dad and I started designing and building unique custom guitars that can be seen on my website; I have continued doing this ever since. Once I got a job after college and had some level of disposable income, I started getting back to one of my first passions: action figures. And I combined that with my passion for creating things, and I’ve been making altered versions ever since. I’ve done a couple sets of Marvel Zombies figures which I’ve sold, and that naturally led to these Death Troopers- just a change as to what universe they’re coming from.
I’d like to mention that I don’t use lightbulbs anymore- I’ve graduated to legit carving tools and a Dremel with many fun attachments.

Well, like I said before I’m very musical; I teach, write, perform, and build musical instruments. As far as art is concerned, I am involved in most mediums- painting with oils, acrylics, watercolors, I can gold leaf, and I draw, etc. I’m taking Krav Maga classes so I can better defend myself during the zombie apocalypse from the legions of the undead and the unruly gangs of looters that form. You know… what most people are doing right now. Also, I can make fart noises with my hands, so obviously I’m a wellspring of talent. Just don’t expect me to make the winning pass in a football game; we all have our limitations!

Actually, that was a pretty easy build- I was kind of obsessed with doing it, so it only took me about 4 Saturdays. The body was essentially there in the toy- I just had to gut it the right way and build the structure into it. Adapting necessary guitar features and precise measurements is the tricky part- it’s easy to stick a guitar neck on the toy, but a little background knowledge is necessary to make it functional and playable! I saw that another guy later did it in England which is cool, but he criticized my use of one pickup. This really isn’t the forum for a rebuttal, but I’d like to state that my choice was intentional to better preserve the design of the ship. And, at least I glued my radar dish in the right place!

In the Zombie-Stormtrooper Apocalypse, I think there is a very simple answer- get off-planet. Immediately. And if I couldn’t do that, I think I’d just jump into my Skyhopper and start picking them off. I mean, I used to bullseye whomp rats in my T-16 back home, and they aren’t much bigger than 2 meters…

Yes- I will make any zombies that people may (or may not) be interested in! Also, I do have an epic Star Wars guitar that I will be doing within the next few years- on par with or eclipsing the Falcon. I don’t want to include any specific details should there be an aggressively competitive fellow nerd out there trying to beat me to it, but it will be epic. In the meantime, I’ll be doing a variety of projects and custom work for anyone who is interested! I’m especially trying to build awareness of my guitars to increase commissioned work. I love guitars, and for some mysterious reason they pay better than figures!

I now have a website with sections that show my work and an area that I can be contacted through; www.travisstevensnerdcrafts.com and its corresponding e-mail address,travisstevensnerdcrafts@gmail.com . I’ll continue to update this as I finish projects! I also have just created a Facebook business page, Travis Stevens NerdCrafts (one word). Thanks for checking out my stuff!

CONTEST RULES:

* One lucky winner of the Death Trooper action figure customized by Travis Stevens AND a Paperback copy of Death Troopers Novel will be chosen on Saturday evening, Oct 15th and announced Monday Morning, Oct. 17th.

*BONUS! Another lucky winner will be chosen same day/date Saturday evening Oct 15th. That lucky winner will win the Death Trooper Novel Hardcover!

* Respond to this question below either on our site’s comments section or on GeekinitReal orZombie411‘s Facebook page:

“In an event of a Zombie Apocalypse, what will you do to survive?”

* Like Travis Steven’s Nerd Crafts, GeekinitReal and Zombie411 Facebook pages.

* The person with the most creative and funny answer wins the contest!

GOOD LUCK!

When struggling with the idea of what to be for Halloween you may have the idea of being a zombie. Then you start thinking of how much work all that latex and make-up is. In order to give your face that freshly rotted look it takes a lot of work. Then I saw that this year they have this facial tattoos available. I am very intrigued because in the picture it looks very creepy and I wonder if this actually works well. If you or any one you know has used one of these products please let me know! I am very curious to see what your experience was. This product is available for $5.99 at www.halloweenstore.com.

source: www.halloweenstore.com.

source: http://www.bathandbodyworks.com/

Epic Zombie Game

Seriously they need to make this for Facebook. They tease you by letting people publish their adventures on their farm to Facebook but it’s not available to play on Facebook! It’s an app that I’ve seen a bunch of my friends playing that is only available for your iPod Touch or iPhone and it look so cool! The only problem is I don’t have a fancy iPod Touch or iPhone! I knew I should have gotten an iPhone when I renewed my phone plan. DAMMIT why am I so cheap?! Plus, my iPod is an old school shuffle. This is one of those times when I wish I had put in the little extra money. Oh well, maybe they will one day come out for this on Facebook or somewhere, anywhere! Has anyone out there been playing this game? Leave me comments and tell me how it is so I can be bitter with jealously.

In this game you will be able to harvest fresh fruits & vegetables as well as plant corpses to grow your zombie army, watch your zombies wander around your farm and collect different varieties/mutations of zombies and send your armies to attack Old’ McDonnell’s farm.

Source(s): Zombie Farm Facebook Page, Zombie Farm for iPhone, Developers website: The Play Forge