Underbody / taper Red blended into olive into dark brown (tying thread)
Finish (superglue or UV resin)
How to tie it
Start red thread on the Alec Jackson hook behind the brown bead and tie the olive synthetic quill in at the very back.
Build the underbody in three thread colours: red at the rear, blend into olive through the middle, then dark brown to finish the taper at the front. Blending colours in the thread base is what gives this fly its layered, translucent look once the quill goes over it.
Finish the taper under the bead with the dark brown, keeping the front third clearly fatter than the rear.
Barber-pole the synthetic quill forward up the shank in even open spirals, letting the coloured thread show between the turns.
Tie the quill off behind the bead and whip finish.
Coat the whole body in superglue or your favourite resin, on a quill body the coating is what stops it splitting after a fish or two.