SANDUSKY — For Andrew Million, each workday has its ups and downs or twists and turns. And when clients toss him a curve or throw him for a loop he never complains, because in his line of work such things are expected.

“I am a professional roller coaster painter. That’s all I do,” said Mr. Million, 36.

As a paint crew supervisor for Baynum Painting Inc. of Newport, Ky., Mr. Million has helped spruce up more than 200 coasters across the country since 2000.

Personally, he has painted 30 of the nation’s largest coasters since he joined Baynum in 2006.

Since Labor Day, Mr. Million, who resides in Norman, Okla., and a crew of 9 to 13 painters have been busy at Cedar Point in Sandusky repainting the red, yellow, and blue Mantis Coaster with bright orange and teal paints — the color scheme chosen to transform the Mantis into the rebranded “Rougarou” roller coaster that will open next May.

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“Based on last winter, it’s good to get ahead of things,” said Bryan Edwards, a Cedar Point spokesman.

Unlike Mantis, which puts riders in a stand-up position, Rougarou will keep riders seated, and their legs will dangle while riding in “floorless” coaster trains.

The new trains are expected to arrive over the winter. But before that, Mr. Million and his crew will work their magic.

Baynum Painting began painting four weeks ago and expects to finish two weeks from now — giving the park a huge head start on the transformation that will include new colors, new theme work, a remade train station, and other features.

Rougarou refers to a werewolflike creature that haunts the Louisiana bayou, and with a river and foliage weaving its way under the coaster, the color theme works perfectly for an eerie setting.

But the water setting also presented some problems for Baynum Painting.

After Mr. Million walked around the Mantis last winter, company owner Chris Baynum “asked me, ‘What kind of problems are you going to run into?’ ” Mr. Million said. “I looked at this one and said, ‘I don’t think I’m going to run into any problems.’ ”

“But there was 2 feet of snow on the ground. I didn’t know that this river ran through here because it was drained and there was two feet of snow,” he said. “I didn’t know what kind of access I could get. So we took some chances on that, and we ran into some hard areas [near the lift hill], but for the most part, I wasn’t intimidated by it at all. This is right up our alley.

“It’s the perfect coaster to paint.”

In fact, Mr. Million said he has painted 10 roller coasters similar in design to the Mantis-​Rougarou.

The coaster’s 145-foot lift hill required using the company’s largest power lift to get crews high enough, but since then it’s been a routine job — even though the coaster has remained in operation and will stay active for three more weeks during the park’s HalloWeekends.

The key, he said, is making sure any part of the coaster to be painted is cleaned beforehand.

So while the Mantis is getting a new paint job, it also is getting a bath.

“[The paint job] has got to hold up, so the main thing is to get it clean first. I’ve seen so many paint jobs that we’ve gone on, and the last guys that did it just did not get it clean, and the paint job was just coming off,” Mr. Million said. “It’s just such a waste of money and material to not get it on right.”

Most of the painting is done with hand rollers, with only a tiny bit sprayed on. The paint is so fine that with a gust of wind “some of it could end up on GateKeeper,” Mr. Million said.

This job it will take nearly 600 gallons. And not just any paint is sufficient.

“Well the glosses are different, but the paint is more similar to painting a car than a house,” Mr. Million said. “These are high-performance paints.”

Besides hydraulic lifts to help painters reach high and low spots, difficult areas are reached using a “spider basket” — a one-man bucket that attaches to the track with cables and can move up and down the coaster’s track as needed.

Neither Mr. Million nor Cedar Point officials would reveal the cost of painting the coaster.

Roller coaster experts have said the entire transformation of the Mantis/Rougarou could cost up to $2 million.

But Baynum has handled million-dollar jobs, Mr. Million said, because some projects present more difficulty.

He once had a job where he could work only at night over water because the park wanted to use the coaster each day.

Work on GateKeeper in 2012 was the Baynum’s first job at Cedar Point, though it has painted coasters at many other Cedar Fair L.P., parks, including the Beast at Kings Island near Cincinnati.

Contact Jon Chavez at: jchavez@theblade.com or 419-724-6128.

First Published October 2, 2014, 4:00 a.m.