Yep for painting I bet you could just spray them white, do a couple of block colours and miracle dip ie varnish with dye in it that seeps into the cracks (also polyurethane varnish is bomb-proof and would add to the structural integrity, although it is gloss so you’d need to over-spray with matt varnish if you wanted) .

You can make stands super cheap with wire that are IMO just as good as those transparent ones (and they won’t break).