I have been scale modeling for less than a year, & have been researching the different loads on the F4 Phantom, A6 Intruder, A4 Skyhawk, F18 Hornet, F16 Eagle & various russian and french aircrafts. I liked to change the armaments of the models to make them different from the out-of-the-box kits.
Welcome to scale aircraft modeling, Buddah.
I know what you’re going through, just starting at this and wanting to give your aircraft just the look you want them to have, its not always an easy thing to do, but the underwing ordanance is often the best place to start.
There are several weapons sets available on the market from various manufacturers. Hasegawa makes excellent weapon sets for American aircraft in both 1/72 and 1/48 scales.
For Russian aircraft, I’m familiar with a fairly accurate weapons set made by ICM of Ukraine, the weapons in it are good right out of the box, but there is also some room for improvement on them. I’m also aware of at least one Russian weapons set made by Dragon.
Unfortunately I’m not able to give you any advice on French weapons kits.
The best thing you can do, as you built your collection, is to keep all the weapons that come with the kits you buy and then you’ll have an expanding selection of ordanance options for your future kits, as one sort of weapon may be used on various aircraft types.
Research into your subject matter, however, will always be your best ally in the modeling hobby. Always do some study of your subject at your library, on the internet, or even speaking to more experienced modelers.
I hope this answers your question and that you’ll get many years of enjoyment from this hobby
I spent 23 years as an Aviation Ordnanceman in the Navy. I spent most of my time loading the F4Phantom. If you are still interested I can give you some direction. Answer me back and we"ll go from there.