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
HUMAN CCTV COP BUSTS 130 CRIMINALS
Meet the human CCTV: a PCSO with a memory for faces so sharp he has apprehended more than 130 suspects in the last year alone with his eagle eyed talents .
POLAR BEAR PLAY
WITH SNOW COVERING the ground around them, these two polar bears play fight .
STUNNING ALICE IN WONDERLAND WEDDING RECEPTION
A couple celebrated tying the knot with a spectacular Alice in Wonderland-themed wedding reception .
SQUIRREL VS DINOSAUR
A feisty squirrel takes on a fearsome foe when he decides to tackle a T-REX .
IT'S RAINING DOGS
WITH THE WIND blowing through their fur, you'll believe a dog can fly in these hilarious images .
SWIMMING WITH WHALE SHARKS
A diver looks like a minnow as she swims alongside a gigantic whale shark, the largest species of fish on the planet .
SURPRISE BABY: WOMAN REVEALS SHE DIDN’T KNOW SHE WAS PREGNANT UNTIL SHE SAW HER BABY’S HEAD CROWNING
A woman has revealed how she didn’t know she was pregnant until she saw her baby’s head crowning .
LAZY LEOPARD
Sprawled out on top of a log, this sleeping leopard takes a relaxing break from his daily routine .
SEXUALLY ABUSED AT 9 BY GRANDAD
A survivor of abuse has bravely waived her anonymity to tell how she was sexually assaulted from the age of nine - by her depraved grandad .
DAREDEVIL DIVERS HAVE A WHALE OF A TIME
SWIMMING next to 40 tonne whales, dare-devil divers take the plunge with these gentle giants of the sea .
SEALED WITH A BUBBLE KISSED
MEET the underwater British seal who is so friendly he loves to grapple divers like a friendly puppy dog .
8-YEAR-OLD GIRL ALLERGIC TO THE COLD
A young girl has been forced to stay indoors this winter because a rare allergy to the cold could kill her .