Merge the meshes into one single piece before export. Makes it easier to handle when in UE4. You can create a second UV map for lightmapping, or have UE4 generate the lightmap UVs for you. Make sure you have duplicates of the original mesh components so that you can make changes later. This is generally the workflow for…
You mean creating a Prefab in Unity? In UE4, the equivalent is creating a Blueprint. This might be what you need; however, you will still encounter the issue of applying a material to each component.
Hold on with merging in Blender into one single object or making blueprint with child components as static meshes (parts). There's an option to import ANY model file as a single model in Unreal Engine 4. At the import step, select "Combine Meshes" option to unify all subobjects from the file into one model. This way you…