UDK confounded by Mesh Assets held in a map file

[01d55]

I'm working with a map that came with some Static Mesh assets - so in the content browser, these meshes appear in a package listed under UDKGame > Content > Maps rather than Engine > Content, like all the built in Meshes. (ETA: This map is the only map I am working in.)

Whenever I try to assign one of these meshes to an Actor's StaticMeshComponent property, I get this error message:
" Failed to assign StaticMesh'StaticMeshPath' to the Static Mesh property, see log for details. "
The mesh will be set to none and there are no details in the log.
I can only use these meshes if I select one and drag a StaticMeshActor into the world, which will create a StaticMeshActor using that mesh. What is the source of this difficulty? What is the best way to make these Meshes more useable?

[ambershee]

If a mesh is embedded in a map, it can only be used in that map. This sounds like the root of your issue.

[01d55]

I suppose I should create a .upk file and move the meshes into it so the editor will be able to use them freely. I found this thread regarding steps needed to move assets between packages cleanly. Are there additional issues when moving assets out of a package containing a map?

Some searching showed that I could create a new upk by creating a new (dummy) asset and typing the name of the upk I wanted to create into a field. That works but I can't shake the feeling that there's a less circuitous method.