Well done, mate. As for professional miniatures, I've seen some for sale that were nowhere near as good as this. You're right, you're not going to go and take out the crown for Worlds Greatest Miniature Maker Feller Evar(tm), but credit where credit's due.
It looks a bit... like he's falling backwards. That may just be the angle of the shot - I suspect it may be. I await sideshots.
As for painting, get hold of a decent photo editing program, and 'paint' over a picture. You can check colour schemes without actually risking stuffing up the beastie.