Well, we would probably want to see some pictures of your work. And these could be posted on The Butcher's Cauldron. Is this an awesome idea? We don't know until we see what you have done.
Is this cheap way? Well, rule of thumb here. If you are just trying to be cheap, then it's not going to be cool. If you are trying to create something absolutely fantastic, it has potential to be cool. In my opinion this also depends on the points of the model. I don't mind replacing few gnoblars with beartraps, spikes, etc. But when you are replacing 70+pt model, it should be stunning, not just some random stuff on the ground.
Don't get me wrong, I'm not trying to discourage you in anyway! I love unit fillers myself.

I just want to say that English ain't my mother tongue, so it is far from perfect and I can just hope that you guys can understand me. And feel free to point out my spelling errors or major grammatical mistakes :]