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.
A woman with a rare condition that means she collapses every time she laughs fears she may have passed the rare illness onto her young son .
A BABY-faced burglar is starting a seven year stretch in custody after being nabbed by a Jaffa Cake .
CLIMBING, falling and tugging on his weary mum, this little orangutan is up to all kinds of trouble .
LEAPING for joy five-feet above the waves this baby whale cutie is saying HELLO to its family after being lost .
A mum-of-two has revealed how her childhood friend of 20 years attacked her with a cosh and broke her nose in a vicious attack .
She is about to start driving and soon will be able to legally buy alcohol and get married, but Poppy Webb-Jones still looks and thinks like a ten-year-old girl .
A medical student has gone from chunky to hunky after being dumped by his ex- girlfriend for being too 'chubby' .
A care worker who broke her spine after jumping from a window to escape a sex attack at the hands of a resident has called for tougher safety measures to protect care staff .
STRETCHING his little legs in the air, a smiley leaf-tailed gecko breaks free from his old, scaly skin .
AN underground HOBBIT motel inspired by JRR Tolkien is just one of the unique places to stay at the world's most unusual hotel complex .
MASKED intruders look sinister but really they are a gang of urban exploring pranksters .
THE FAST AND THE FURIOUS - 250 DRIVERS ARRESTED FOR STREET RACING IN BIRMINGHAM- In Pic - The start line on the Heartlands Parkway Nechels Birmingham .