I'd say this model represents Conan in his early days, when he was a thief more than anything else. This is Conan as described in Tower of the Elephant. In addition, this is a more muscular vision of Conan reminiscent of Arnold Schwarzenegger's portrayal.
I used a very simple scheme for the fur and leather and put most of my effort into the skin and silver of the sword blade. If you read my experiences painting the Escher Gang, you know that I don't have much experience painting human skin. It just doesn't come up much in Vampire Count, Space Marine, and Eldar armies. However, the musculature on this model made it pretty simple to paint. Though it's not entirely anatomically correct, the muscles are well defined and rounded, making them easy to shade and highlight.
I usually paint my silvers in a very straightforward way: basecoat with Reaper Blackened Steel, drybrush with GW Necron Compound, and wash with Secret Weapon Heavy Body Black. This gives me a dark metal with excellent definition and a very worn look. Out of respect for the Riddle of Steel, I wanted Conan's steel to be brighter and look more fantastic. I decided to layer the silver up through several shades like I do for the non-metallics. This model's sword has a simple shape so it was a good place to try this out.
I'm pretty happy with how the sword came out. It looks more striking than my standard steel, and I was able to paint on some more subtle highlights and shadows that I don't get with my normal scheme. It takes a lot longer, so I'll limit its use to heroes and characters.
I'm pleased that they chose this model as the version of Conan to come with the base game. He's not my favorite of the Conan models, but he's iconic and easy to paint.