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Hello all, I'm getting back into 40K once again after a long hiatus and decided I'm going to try out Tau this time considering they've long been the bane of my tabletop existence. The thing about GW is that everything is ridiculously expensive which brings me to my point. I noticed long ago that 40K sprues come with lots of options and extras that a thrifty player can kit bash with other kits and some of the right "bitz" purchased elsewhere to make more models for less money.
At present I have the "start collecting" box for Tau and the stealth suits box, and from the start collecting I've noticed an abundance of heads, shoulder pads, and a few extra legs as well as enough to outfit 10 infantry with either pulse rifles, pulse carbines, or pulse blasters depending on strike team/breachers. At the moment I am assembling all as a strike team with pulse rifles, the remaining pieces seem to have minor cosmetic differences meant fro the breacher team but appear subtle enough that I wouldn't mind mixing them up or using them to differentiate between squads.

So the big question is what model kits have the most parts left over for maximum model count when mixed with others?
I'm also interested in maxing out drone assemblies since they seem to be configured to where the weapon/support system needs not be glued in place so all weapons can be assembled and interchanged freely.

also also interested in the same for vanilla space marines/Imperial guard as well as other Tau models like batttlesuit options and model count (I'm assuming there aren't many leftovers for suits, just infantry.

GW intentionally limits this by including a limiting factor, usually legs as far as I have seen. They only ever give you enough to make the number on the box unless you get really creative and model them as coming out of the ground or something.
You could buy bits on ebay or a specialist bits site, but in my experience more boxes (with a 20% 3rd party retailer discount) is almost always more cost-efficient.

Ah, I forgot to ask about 3rd party retailers. My local shops have changed hands and no longer offer standard discounts, is what are some good online retailers from the US that offer discounted sets?

For regular Space Marines, it's worth noting that the Assault Squad box has 10 complete torsos, and that both the Devastator and Command Squad boxes come with 5 standing pairs of legs and one kneeling one each. Torso fronts are easy to come by for Marines but the backs are not so much, but these three boxes designed to make 15 miniatures can, with a couple extra bases make 17.

It's easier with csm due to the haphazard armor standards. I can mix in third party legs, use random bits as mutations and shoulder pads, and generally just use anything I have as pieces. Tau are well organized so it seems like it would be more difficult.

Cheap humans with Tau bits make easy auxillary (Tau'Vessa?)