Best glue for clear bases?

[jmpowell]

After my prepainted and extremely top-heavy Adult Black Dragon tipped over during a game session and smashed into bits one of the heroes who had snuck around behind him, I decided to rebase the thing.

Well, not exactly rebase him—what I'm doing is shifting him up on his original base, to shift the mini's center of gravity more toward the center of the base. I've gotten as far as removing him from the base and cutting off the pegs.

But what kind of glue should I use to reattach him? I've heard that superglue (cyanoacrylate) will make clear bases "foggy" or "hazy" around the glued area. Is there a good alternative that would make a strong enough bond to hold this fellow upright?

[firespitter]

Cyanoacrylate (superglue) tends to be problematic as the esters do soften (and sometimes eat) most plastics, Also, due to the fast drying element, wiping off residue if it is over-applied can look much worse than just leaving the blob of too much adhesive. Though the bonds tend to be sufficiently strong if used sparingly, Due to the brittleness, cyanoacrylate works best if there is a minimal film between contact points.
Because of this, epoxy tends to be a better option for a lot of professional model builders. Normal two-part epoxies have longer drying times and there is less haste in application and setting the mini in situ, so you can take your time in applying the perfect amount necessary. And even if you over-apply, epoxy does not suffer from the high brittleness and excess can make the bond even stronger. Epoxy has the benefit also of having no esters to eat or frost the plastic.
The major drawback with epoxy is that the pieces must be held together in the position you want them for a VERY long time before the glue sufficiently sets. Even 5-minute epoxy is known for requiring an hour or more before pieces should be moved as the bond can separate necessitating the whole process started again from the beginning. So if you can't use rubber bands or prop the pieces in a sympathetic orientation to provide positive pressure on the two pieces for the entire hour, it is problematic. Often this means a lot of time spent dry fitting and testing propping techniques before attempting the bond.

Lastly I would mention is UV setting epoxy, which gives a nearly indefinite working period and yet when exposed to UV light bonds after just a few seconds. Like normal 2-part epoxy it requires something holding the pieces together or a helper to provide extra hands to manipulate the light. The major draw back to UC epoxy is the price and potentially short shelf life.
UV epoxy is what is used on acrylic display cases we make at work.