These are the fascinating pictures of miniature table sculptures molded around bonsai trees that take up to a painstaking 18 months to create. Japanese illustrator Takanori Aiba, 58, has built the intriguing scale models of windmills, lighthouses and even the Michelin Man.He delicately uses craft paper, plaster, acrylic resin, paint and plastic to create the host of sprawling miniature communities that wrap around the tiny trees.Following his work as an illustrator for Japanese fashion magazine POPYE he has spent the last nine years producing the detailed mini worlds.The creations take at least three months to construct with his Ice Cream Package Tower taking an astonishing 18 months work. Since 2003, he has made eight models, with 10 more planned over the next few years.
In the calm waters of Greenland, gigantic icebergs dwarf everything around them .
BRAIDED, sculpted and beaded, these are the eye-catching hairstyles worn by the tribal women of Angola .
GUITARISTS that want to lay down some slick licks will soon be able to get their hands on a brand new guitar - made from oil cans .
THESE LOVE BIRDS can’t keep their beaks off each other as they share a very public display of affection .
A soldier who lost both legs and an arm in Afghanistan has found love with a blonde bombshell he met through his newfound passion for rally driving .
These adorable pictures show the moment two cuddly red panda cubs take their first look at the outside world and are weighed for the very first time .
A brave leopard kicks back and relaxes in the sunshine - just inches from an enormous crocodile .
SURROUNDED by tens of thousands of fish, this outnumbered diver is dwarfed by a mass of sea life .
CARRYING a fully grown goat on his back, this five-year-old boy is a child shepherd in the mountains of northern Ethiopia .
A woman whose daughter committed suicide after being raped as a child, has revealed she donated her organs - saving four peoples’ lives .
WITH his spiked ears and yellow and blue body, a colourful monkey bears an uncanny resemblance to Marvel Comics’ Wolverine .