Need help: advise on easy accessible paint for painting figures in United Kingdom

Hi,

Im living in the United kingdom, and I'm wondering what kind of paint that is easily accessible to me I should use to paint action figures/ statues with? I am not interested in importing from overseas mostly for reasons of expense. Any help would be great.

Also I do have another question, of this range, what paint would be suitable for giving a shiny black surface effect, and how would I apply it to create this effect:

http://www.mostwantedcollectibles.co...kCatStatue.jpg

Again any help or advice would be much appreciated.

Thanks