No doubt that the Tri* is more reliable than the old girl, but I doubt that there is huge difference. There have certainly been a few VC10 rescues of Tristar tasks (Pax and AAR) over the last few weeks. Had a pleasant nightstop in St Johns on one of them.
The black paint is not primer. The jets are majored in yellow/green etching primer. The black is put on before the grey to reduce IR signature.