That picture of the helmet after you added the battle marks is amazing. I don't know much about anything that would be helpful here so all I can say is keep it up, it looks awesome.
The pack was recently updated to fix the issue that the top sticky dealt with. Seeing as it was fixed, your issue was the same as that one. Glad you got it working though.
It is not stickied anymore because that particular issue has been resolved (the OP might not have updated his launcher yet though) Reading the CP&S sticky would also be benificial
Optifine is a mod included in the pack that alows for way more graphics options. I am on my phone atm but when I get on my computer I will edit with some sugestions.
You need to post your own bug report. By posting a new report, you provide us important info that we need to help you and also let the OP get personalized help in his thread.
Someone doesn't know how to quote. Also, I don't understand what you are trying to say here? Are you complimenting the wonderful people who keep this forum clean? You do realise of course that it is not the moderators job to offer tech support right?
While it may be partially caused by Windows 8, I know for a fact that many people have gotten it running on Windows 8 so there is definitely a solution. However, without a log, I can't really help you. Also, friendly tip, don't ask for ETAs.