I actually had a similar idea, although I didn’t think it would work too well.
Your post motivated me to try anyway, and I came up with this:
It works like a charm! These meshes act as support like you said. They need a collision model though, and this could cause some piece to glitch out, but that’s not the case here at least. Either way its better than having whole meshes dislodge and freak out.
Thank you, this was the last problem I had! 
(Man, what a huge thread.)