Reasoned,
I'm not the RLM expert by any means, this is my first Luftwaffe aircraft in 38 years. But like you and many others, when I do something, I want it to be as accurate as possible. So I dove deep as I realized which aircraft I was going to model.
There are probably folks here who have forgotten more on this subject than I've learned. If I've got anything incorrect, or if you have input, please let me know. This is the best I've been able to track down, but I'm sure there are plenty of additional resources.
Specific to your question re: Model Master Paints. One of the definitive resources on Luftwaffe color schemes is the standard "The Official Monogram Painting Guide to Luftwaffe Aircraft 1939 - 1945" by Merrick & Hitchcock, 1980. Initially they may have had their designations for 82 & 83 reversed.
I found a copy of this online (print copies are thru the roof) and it has images of the colors as they identified them, and it is probable that many paint mfrs would have used them as one of the best resources to develop their colors from.
In Errata - Omission they state: “Since Publication of this book, the authors have not discovered definitive official confirmation for the true identity of colors 81,82, and 83…the so-called late-war colors. However, the preponderance of evidence from all sources suggest that Color 81 was Brown-Violet, 82 was Bright Green and Color 83 was Dark Green. This does not negate the fact that there existed considerable contradiction between various aircraft painting charts regarding the true description of these late-war colors.”
To emphasize their final point, the official Dornier released Oberflachenshutzlste 8 Os 335A dated 11/26/1944 and approved by RLM, D.Luft.T.2335 "designated the ‘green’ 81/82/76 camouflage be applied to the 335. Colors designated as “Dunkelgrun 81" and Dunkelgrun 82”.
Both my aircraft and 1/3 shown above are painted according to the Oberflachenshutzliste 8 Os 335A, in that the darker paint and the lighter paint are in the correct locations.
If you look at the MM paints you have, 81 should be Braun-Violette, and that color is pretty close to what I understand to be the most widely agreed upon accurate representation of RLM 81. Compare that color to the restoration of 102 done by Dornier in the 70's and now displayed at NASM, you will see that it is pretty close to the colors they used. And what Dornier used for RLM 82 is close to what ModelMaster calls 83, but that upon examination of a number of late Me 262's with original paint, MM83 appears to match RLM 82 on those aircraft as well. In addition, there are a number of '262's with RLM 81 that approximate the MM Braun-Violette.
Thus, I believe MM has misidentified their 83, and it is actually closer to 82. What MM calls 82 may be an early (non-standardized) version of what the German paint manufacturers were producing as 81 before the official color chips came out.
The issue is that examination of 102 prior to restoration clearly indicates that it was not painted in Braun-Voilette, and that it was painted in a more olive green shaded version. To make matters more confused, the Oberflachenshutzliste for Me 163 says 81, and there is an unrestored B in Australia that has a very similar shade of "81" that matches the 81 on the unrestored 102. Smarter folks than me make the assumption that both plants (within `50 miles?? of each other) both got early samples of 'RLM 81' before the standards had been definitively applied and samples distributed.
I hope that makes sense, because it is a very convoluted issue. I literally have read and reread my various documentation trying to follow the threads, and finally think I've got a pretty good handle on it.
Good Modeling,