I should point out that I have put together metal miniatures before (since ~ 1980) so this isn't new to me. I just got back in RPG so this is the first figure I have bought in a long long time.

I purchased Battleguard Golem for an upcoming adventure. For the life of me I cannot get the arm glued on. I am using super glue. I have taped the figure down so it wouldn't move and left it alone for 48 hours.

The arm still basically fell out.

Any suggestions? Epoxy instead of super glue? Solder it?

Really annoying.

Maybe the joint is too smooth. Perhaps if you scored it a little, that would give it the extra texture it would need to make a good bond.

For anything like that, I pin it, use greenstuff to help fill the joint, and superglue.

I've never had any problems with Zap-a-Gap glue and Reaper minis (or Zap-a-Gap and anything really.)
Plastic, wood, flocking, clothes, fingers, hair or pets, it pretty much bonds them all like a Katamari sphere.

Did you clean the mini in warm soapy water and scrub it with a toothbrush?
If there is mold release residue on it the glue will not work. It doesn't always happen, I have assembled many minis in the past without cleaning them, but eventually you get one that still has mold release on it. Now I always scrub them well.

Have you tried pinning?? It seems to me that that should solve the problem. The figure looks big enough that drilling the pieces shouldn't be an issue.

Given the pose of the model, I second pinning, if you're willing to purchase a pin vise (hand drill). This company has a lot of good ones to choose from; I'd suggest the set that comes with the drill bits (I can't remember off the top of my head what kind of drill bit to buy... #68 or thereabouts?).

You will need paper clips or brass rod for pins (I just use paper clips).

Score the socket and the arm going into the socket in the center with a pick or knife--just a single dot in the center. That gives you a starting point for your drill. Then use the pin vise to drill a hole into each piece.

When it seems deep enough to you (test with a paper clip to see how far it goes in, put a drop of glue in the hole in the socket, then stick a piece of paper clip/rod in, and let it set.

Test to make sure the arm will go in flush to the socket (clip the pin shorter if you need to), then put a drop of glue in the hole in the arm, and slide it on the pin. Make sure it's on the way you want it to be and let set!

And now you have a golem whose arm will not fall off--if you did it right, not even if it gets rough treatment.

If you DON'T have a pin vise and don't want to get one, and you've tried the scoring and cleaning methods mentioned above already, you may want to try using some green stuff to help hold the arm in place, if you're confident with your sculpting.

In a pinch, you could try some zip kicker (accelerant) to help it hold long enough that it'll cure faster. But it makes the glue brittle, so it will probably make the arm fall off eventually again.

If you don't have a pin vise, but have a stable large vise on your workbench, you can use a power drill and a wire-gauge drill bit to drill it, but it's a lot harder (I've only done this for larger figures like dragons). Just clamp the piece in place, score the target drill point as DeathQuaker said, and slowly use the drill to pierce the target.

Or you can make a cheap pin vise by putting a blob of putty on the back end of your wire-gauge drill bit and let it harden to form a handle. Whether it's a spherical blob or a cylindrical blob is a matter of preference. I have about eight of these that I use in mini-assembling workshops at conventions. They work really well on plastic minis, less so on pewter (but it may help to start the hole for using your power drill).

Ooh, homemade finger drills, that's a cool idea!

It is a good idea...I always despair when trying to use some of my smaller drill bits which are too fine for the pin vise, but this idea might let me use them. I might be able to put together some of the very fine Confrontation figures I have lying around now. Thanks Sean.

Speaking of Confrontation figures, in many cases I've found their limbs are too narrow to pin... drilling a hole for a pin would leave a hollow shell about as strong as aluminum foil. In that case, I use the limb itself as the pin. For example, for a shoulder joint, I'll drill into the chest cavity, crimp or file the upper arm to a longer and narrower end, and stick it into the drilled hole (with some glue and putty). And if that means the arm's a little short, meh... or I can use brownstuff to build up the chest socket a little more (brownstuff because it's much harder than greenstuff).

I'll have to try that...after I find where I stashed them after becoming disheartened with trying to put them together.

I appreciate all the suggestions. I ended up trying a couple of things. But in the end I got out my drill and the smallest drill bit I had and drilled out a hole in the shoulder and arm. Glued the pin into the shoulder. Later glued the pin in the arm (after a bit of length adjustment).

After an hour or so everything was *solid*! I have already put the primer on and will start painting it this week.