I understand how the 'reshaping' can happen, but it is not unique to airfoils that are thin or flat, and it is not the entire explanation of the performance characteristics of thin airfoils.
banktoturn,
Well, you are very much welcome to provide us with the entire explanation.
Beyond that, it is tricky to optimize an airfoil for any set of operating conditions, whether it is low Re, high Mach number, etc.
Yes of course, but since most of the design software and wind tunnel data available are aimed at much higher Re's, it makes the optimisation of an airfoil for extreme low Re even more tricky and difficult to achieve. So, maybe the simplest solution is by trial and error as Dick Hanson has done.