As far as i can tell, without bugs, you only need to use caps for 12 stars in SM64, 5 of which red coin stars.
For these, you’ll need to use the metal cap for 3 of them: the jet stream stars in jolly roger bay and dire dire docks as well as the red coins in the metal cap switch room (you don’t actually need it for hazy maze cave, as the underwater switch can be hit with a ground pound and the hazy maze itself is short enough that you can get through it without dying)
The wing cap for 4 of them: red coins in the wing cap switch room, shifting sand land and the rainbow clouds room on the final floor, and finally the 5th star in bob-omb battlefield
And the vanish cap for 5 of them: red coins in the vanish cap switch room, a star ironically called collect the caps in dire dire docks (that you don’t need to use the metal cap for cause you can just swim to that cage within the vanish cap time limit, especially if you get it before completing bowser in the fire sea), a caged star in wet-dry world, the star in the igloo in snowman’s land and the big eyeball one in big boo’s haunt.
