Can I set different sorting policies for sprites outside and inside of an actor?

So here’s the thing:

I’m working on a 2D top-down project with orthographic camera and I needed a way to sort the rendering order of the sprites using the Y axis. I managed that through the translucency sorting policy between different actors and I managed to fix a couple of other issues with walls and stuff using priority layers, but now I’m faced with another pickle.

I want the main character to be modular (graphically) so I can manage different animations for different parts of the body and even gear and accessories, but that means I have to use multiple flipbooks one on top of the other… or does it?

That’s actually a question, I’m honestly not sure.

But if that’s the case then I have to sort the internal flipbooks as well. So if I sort them simply by giving them different positions on the Y axis then the problem is solved for the character if he’s by himself, but, when he’s close to other stuff, his flipbooks are not exactly in the same position on the Y axis, so they have different sorting positions and a… let’s say… ROCK, can get between his eyes and the rest of his face, for example.

My question is this: can I sort the different sprites and flipbooks INSIDE an actor or character and then treat them on the OUTSIDE as if they were only one flipbook or at least as if they were in the same exact position in the sorting order?

And now I’m gonna say something that’s probably very dumb, but I get the feeling that that would not be a first, so whatever…
Another solution might be to generate a flipbook at runtime by combining different flipbooks together… is there a way to do that?

And again, another way to ask the question, probably the best one so far…
Can I achieve the goal that I mean to achieve in a way that already exists (or just a better way than the ones I managed to imagine) and that I simply don’t know or am too dumb to conceive?

Thank you, internet.

Yknow what? its been 5 years but yeah there’s sorting priority in sprites themselves excluding the whole sort by axis thing. In what version of ue4 did you manage the sort by axis thing? (it’s bugged in newest versions)