MINI BONZAI MODELS - TREE-MENDOUS

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.

Other great stories
JEALOUS EX TERRORISED ME FOR FIVE MONTHS

Heart pounding, Rebecca Cain jumped as a car door slammed on the street outside .

ICELAND'S 360 DEGREE VIEW WATERFALL

THESE BREATH-TAKING photographs show the natural beauty of Iceland's most famous waterfall .

BABY WITH HEART-SHAPED BIRTHMARK CONCEIVED ON VALENTINE'S DAY

An adorable baby girl was born with a heart-shaped birthmark on her forehead - after being conceived on Valentine's Day .

SERENE ICEBERGS

A SERENE turquoise glow glimmers from underneath these powerful icebergs .

GRAVEYARDS FROM AROUND THE WORLD

From the tails of fighter planes to black and white checked buildings, graveyards take different and unusual forms around the world .

MAN DODGES DANGER TO COMMUTE ON PENNY FARTHING

Meet the Victorian gentleman who could not face sitting next to smelly commuters on the bus - so he dodges danger to go to work on a penny farthing .

ADORABLE BABY ORANGUTAN PLAYS WITH MUM

TUGGING at his exhausted mum's ears, a beautiful baby orangutan refuses to settle for a nap as he begins a game of peek-a-boo .

BRITAIN'S LOST MILITARY HOSPITAL

WELCOME to all that remains of Britain's once state-of-the-art military hospital where plastic surgery was pioneered for injured WW1 troops who survived the SOMME .

ABANDONED OLD CROW COTTAGE

AN OLD ENGLISH cottage packed full of history and valuables has been left to rot .

ONE HUMP OR TWO? CAMEL ENJOYS BREAKFAST WITH FAMILY

They say breakfast is the most important meal of the day and for this greedy camel he can't get enough of his morning feed, as he gate crashes his owner's mealtime .

BEAR CUBS AND DOTING MUM

A little brown bear cub shows his doting mum that she is always on parent duty as he uses her as a scratching post .

NINJA RED SQUIRREL

A NINJA red squirrel cuts a dashing figure as the little fella jumps up to ten-feet between treetops in the Yorkshire Dales .