Looking for help - customising big cat

A little while back I posted this thread:
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I'm thinking of redoing the black big cat. It's labelled underneath as a cheetah, so that's what I was planning to paint it as. This would be my first attempt as customising so I'm looking for some advice. Should I use paints or pastels and how exactly should I go about it?

I paint my figures in acrylic paint then do the details like highlights and shadows in powder pastels. These are the ones that come in the bar and you scratch off the power with something like a knife. :)

I think I have seen that gazelle in a tub with other wild animals. They also have a dinosaur and farm animal tub--is it Animal Planet's product?

Great little model!

I would suggest cleaning up the edges with a knife first, and then have a go with some acrylic. I always use at least 1 undercoat (plain colour) firts, and then work off that. Otherwise your base shade colour could be required again, and you loose all your hard work.