Comment 9 for bug 1766323

"This would allow a single LED footprint to have many 3D models for various colors, and then per-board the LED model's color can be selected and it will be remembered along with the board file"

It can be implemented as check boxes per item list in the 3D shapes.
It sounds to me that it is a change in configuration per footprint that is placed in the board.
The only issue I can see here is that the footprint file format must be changed to implement such a feature. That is the hardest part of the discussion for me :)
The external file doesn't sound to me possible...