Maker record
Lindberg
Lindberg is an American model-kit brand whose origins lie in Paul W. Lindberg’s flying-model work and the postwar O-Lin partnership. Its plastic kits covered aircraft, ships and cars, with ranges including military and passenger planes, warships, motorised automotive kits and small Mini-Lindy vehicles. Early O-Lin kits used polystyrene, and some earlier flying models continued in vacuum-formed styrene. The brand expanded through new releases, acquired tooling and reissues, and became part of Round 2 in 2013.
- Founders
- Paul W. Lindberg
The story of Lindberg
Paul W. Lindberg established his name before the Second World War as a designer of balsa flying models. In the postwar period he joined with Olsen to make plastic kits under the O-Lin name. A specialist history places their work around 1947 and identifies the P-80B as an early O-Lin aircraft kit; Round 2’s brand history describes it as the first molded plastic airplane kit in the partnership. O-Lin also took on Varney aircraft and ship tooling, revising some kits with plastic components.
By the 1950s the Lindberg name had replaced O-Lin. The range included vintage and current aircraft, airliners, battleships and aircraft carriers. Some flying kits remained available, while later releases included automotive kits with electric motors and small 1/64-scale Mini-Lindy cars and trucks. Lindberg added tooling from Palmer and Pyro in the 1970s, followed by a period when releases mainly reissued existing kits. In the 1990s, under George Toteff’s leadership, the brand introduced new car and pickup kits, including a 1/25-scale 1964 Dodge in 1996. After further reissues and a transfer to J. Lloyd International, Lindberg became part of Round 2 in 2013.