Cheers guys,
I almost destroyed it before I started, didnt realise it was rubber and left it in acetone for a minute while I was sorting something else out. Came back and it had already started to degrade! Washed it all off quickly and there wasnt any serious damage, just a couple of small cracks that were easily covered.
Paint wise I just used a base coat of acrylic and water, took about 20-25 coats. Then it was just a case of putting down a layer of pastel, dullcoat, repeat with the odd acrylic layer to darken his tan.
Oh and I had thought about the poncho, actually have the perfect material in the form of an old action man camp bed, will get around to that at some point
EDIT, oh I realise now you were on about the body lol, the head has a layer of rubber too!
The body is all pastel and water, the rubbers very porus so it takes the colour well and doesnt smudge. The blood is red acrylic mixed with gloss coat and only applied where there are no bends, just in case